Coronavirus live updates: US sets daily death record as Pfizer vaccine reaches FDA review; experts say 70% need shot to slow spread - USA TODAY
Coronavirus live updates: US sets daily death record as Pfizer vaccine reaches FDA review; experts say 70% need shot to slow spread - USA TODAY |
- Coronavirus live updates: US sets daily death record as Pfizer vaccine reaches FDA review; experts say 70% need shot to slow spread - USA TODAY
- 'Never expected this to happen in the US': How the COVID-19 pandemic exploded from March to December - USA TODAY
- Breaking down Chiefs' tackle options if Eric Fisher, Mike Remmers can't play - Chiefs Wire
- 'You need to get him out of there': Vermont man with autism lived in 6 facilities in one year - USA TODAY
| Posted: 10 Dec 2020 01:00 AM PST  | The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed the number of World War II combat fatalities on Thursday night, just hours after a committee of leading U.S. vaccine scientists recommended the Food and Drug Administration authorize the first COVID-19 vaccine for Americans. The vaccine, though, won't help soon enough, said Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warning that the country's daily death count will likely rival national tragedies such as the 9/11 terror attacks and Pearl Harbor for months. "We are in the timeframe now that probably for the next 60 to 90 days we're going to have more deaths per day than we had at 9/11 or we had at Pearl Harbor," Redfield said during at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, The Hill reported. One day after reporting more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths for the first time, the U.S. topped 292,000 total deaths, several hundred more than the number of battlefield deaths in WWII, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Johns Hopkins University data dashboard reported 3,124 deaths on Wednesday, a single-day toll worse than 9/11, when about 2,900 people were killed, and Pearl Harbor, which resulted in about 2,400 deaths. New infections are booming, with some hospitals running out of beds, prompting stay-at-home orders in some places and mask mandates in 38 states. Other news you need to know today:
📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 15.5 million cases and 292,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 69.5 million cases and 1.58 million deaths. 📰 What we're reading: It may not have started here, but the novel coronavirus became a US tragedy. In the earliest days of a historic pandemic, the virus had unfettered access into and throughout the United States. This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to The Daily Briefing newsletter.
Key committee endorses Pfizer vaccine for FDA authorizationA committee of leading U.S. vaccine scientists recommended Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration authorize the first COVID-19 vaccine for Americans. The endorsement paves the way for a final decision by the FDA. Mass vaccinations may begin within days in thousands of frontline heath care workers and nursing homes residents. After an day-long public hearing, the independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 17 to 4, with 1 abstention, to recommend the vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech called BNT162b2. The FDA is expected to clear the vaccine for emergency use as early as Friday. One last important meeting will take place Sunday, when an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meets to make a final recommendation on who the vaccine should go to first. While the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices doesn't have regulatory power, providers receiving COVID-19 vaccine sign agreements to comply with ACIP guidelines. Thursday's meeting of VRBPAC (pronounced verb-pack) came a day after the U.S. set a new daily record for COVID-19 deaths, topping 3,000. – Elizabeth Weise and Karen Weintraub
Every US county has now had at least one COVID-19 caseA county in Hawaii became the United States' final county to have a resident test positive for COVID-19, the Maui News reported Thursday. An adult resident of Kalaupapa, Hawaii, has become the first person to contract COVID-19 in Kalawao County, reportedly the last county in the U.S. without a case in eight months of the pandemic, according to the Hawaii Department of Health, the Maui News said. The person received a positive test result after returning on a local flight to Kalaupapa and is now in self-isolation with no symptoms.
Online booking firm BookIt settles with customers for $550,000An online travel agency accused of leaving travelers stranded on vacations at the beginning of the pandemic has agreed to pay back more than $550,000 in a civil settlement in Massachusetts. Commonwealth Attorney General Maura Healey announced Florida-based BookIt.com and its CEO Arthur Paul Finlaw will reimburse 539 Massachusetts consumers for canceled trips. "Unfortunately, we've seen travel companies take advantage of the COVID-19 crisis by cheating consumers and pocketing payments for canceled trips," Healey said in Wednesday's announcement of the settlement over alleged unfair and deceptive acts. Massachusetts is the first to win a substantial legal action against BookIt after it sued the company in June. Consumer protection officials there say they received more than 60 complaints about the single company. – Nick Penzenstadler
Bipartisan group of governors rally behind comprehensive planFor the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, a bipartisan group of governors has vowed to put politics aside to issue a comprehensive plan to defeat COVID-19 across state lines. The plan focuses on five key pillars as part of an effective response to the pandemic: testing, contact tracing, public health and social measures, vaccines and treatments, and common measures of success. The call to action was developed and released by the COVID Collaborative, a national assembly that has brought together leading experts and institutions across health, education and the economy to support state and local leaders. As part of the plan, the National Governors Association and Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy released a review of state vaccine distribution plans that highlight challenges and strategies to help states refine their efforts. – Adrianna Rodriguez
Ellen DeGeneres tests positive but 'feels fine'Ellen DeGeneres has tested positive for COVID-19 but is "feeling fine right now," she announced Thursday. Production on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" has been paused until January, a Telepictures spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY. The television host, 62, said in a tweet that "anyone who has been in close contact with me has been notified, and I am following all proper CDC guidelines." In October, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" became one of the first TV productions to return to inviting a limited number of in-studio audience members. On Oct. 28, 40 fans attended the "Ellen" taping in person in a studio generally holds about 300. "I'll see you all again after the holidays," DeGeneres said. "Please stay healthy and safe." – Hannah Yasharoff
HHS: US to produce 180M N95 masks monthly starting in JanuaryU.S. production of N95 masks will reach 180 million per month in January, up from 20 million a year ago, federal officials said Thursday. About 150 million of the U.S.-made masks are being produced now, senior Health and Human Services officials said in a press call. "Anyone can find a disgruntled nurse on the street to talk about someone not getting an N95 mask. We can't account for that," said Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at HHS. "We are in a significantly better position than we've ever been, and a dramatically better position than we were in in January 2020." Before the pandemic, the nation's Strategic National Stockpile, which harbors emergency medical supplies, contained less than 13 million N95 masks, said Brigadier General David Sanford, director of the Supply Chain Task Force. It now contains "15 times that number of masks," between the stockpile and FEMA counterparts, Sanford said. – Grace Hauck
CDC scientist ordered to destroy email evidence, House probe findsThe chairman of a House subcommittee is demanding more information after a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist told the committee this week that she was ordered to destroy an email regarding attempts by political appointees to interfere with the publication of weekly CDC reports. Panel Chairman Rep. James Clyburn revealed the information in a letter sent to CDC Director Robert Redfield and HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Thursday seeking to interview Redfield about the allegation. Dr. Charlotte Kent, chief of the Scientific Publications Branch and editor-in-chief of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report at the CDC, told the committee she was instructed to delete an Aug. 8 email sent by HHS senior adviser Dr. Paul Alexander, and that she understood the direction came from Redfield, according to the letter. In the email, Alexander demanded that the CDC insert new language in a previously published scientific report on coronavirus risks to children or "pull it down and stop all reports immediately," according to the letter. An HHS spokesperson said in a statement Thursday that the subcommittee's "characterization of the conversation with Dr. Kent is irresponsible" and that releasing the full transcript of Kent's testimony would show no political interference. Redfield said in a statement that he had instructed CDC staff to ignore Alexander's email and was "fully committed to maintaining the independence of the MMWR." – Grace Hauck
Viral hoaxes greet first vaccinations – and it could be just the beginningHours after Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from the United Kingdom, became the first person to get the COVID-19 vaccine, anti-vaxxers heated up social media with claims that Keenan didn't exist, that she was dead or that she was part of a Bill Gates scheme to implant microchips. Researchers warn this is just the beginning of viral hoaxes on social media that will feed off the unknowns of the virus and the vaccines to undercut public trust in the coming wave of immunizations. "I am deeply concerned," said Emerson Brooking, resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab. "The same information campaign which initially downplayed the severity of COVID-19, downplayed the number of cases, then downplayed the number of deaths is now shifting to focus on the vaccine."
Vaccines: Don't forget that second dosePeople who get one of the new COVID-19 vaccines will be expected to get their second shot 21 or 28 days after the first one, depending on the manufacturer. But what happens if someone misses that deadline by a day, a week or even longer? Moncef Slaoui, co-leader of Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's vaccine development effort, says that from a scientific perspective, such precision is not that important and the immune system generally responds better when there's a wider gap between vaccinations. But during a pandemic, when the risk of infection is high, he noted that people are better off getting the second shot – and being fully protected – according to the authorized schedule. "If there is significant transmission of disease, as is the case here, we should absolutely get the second dose exactly as has been studied," he said. – Karen Weintraub
As states prioritize the vaccine line, college students present a quandaryStates are prioritizing frontline health workers and other vulnerable populations as the first to be immunized, but remaining unclear is the place in line for college students. The overwhelming majority of young adults are not among the nation's most vulnerable. But students fueled some of the nation's top outbreaks this fall, and they're expected to return to campuses early in 2021. Will they — can they — be required to get the vaccine once it's readily available? And why are college students different than schoolchildren? It's complicated, education experts across the country say — and we're a long way from answers. Read more here. – Lindsay Schnell
First in line: For some health care workers, thanks but no thanksMillions of health care workers are slated to receive the first batch of potentially lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this month. But not all of them want to be first in line. Only one-third of a panel of 13,000 nurses said they would voluntarily take a vaccine, another third said they wouldn't and the rest said they were unsure, according to a late October survey by the American Nurses Association. "I actually even hate getting a flu shot, but I've had to get one every year since I became a nurse," said Nina Siegrist, a registered nurse with Hospice of the Piedmont in Charlottesville, Virginia. "If my medical director says, 'Listen, all hospice clinicians are going to get vaccinated,' then I'll get vaccinated. But I definitely want to read the details on the clinical trials first." – Christine Vestal, Stateline
America's worst day: 1 died every 28 secondsThe U.S. reported a record 3,124 deaths Wednesday, meaning about 130 people died of the virus every hour or one died every 28 seconds. That's far worse than any day of the spring or summer surges. And another dark record was broken – most deaths over a seven-day period. The 15,927 deaths equals 95 per hour, or one death every 38 seconds, breaking a record set in April. At the current pace, the U.S. death toll from the entire pandemic could reach 300,000 in just a few days. The U.S. also reported 227,828 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, the second-worst day on record. And the number of infections in a week set a record of almost 1.5 million, 145 new cases per minute. Wednesday also saw a record in current hospitalizations, with 106,688. Hospitalizations never reached 60,000 at the peak of the spring or summer virus surges. – Mike Stucka View | 200 Photos
COVID-19 resources from USA TODAYContributing: The Associated Press View | 102 Photos  |
| Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:00 AM PST CLOSE  Experts say side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine range from soreness to fatigue. USA TODAY As the COVID-19 pandemic rages unabated across the United States, December is already breaking records – only a week in. Public health experts warnedfor some time that a winter surge would come. But four who spoke with USA TODAY said they have been stunned by the dismal trajectory of the virus over nine grueling months, and they never expected the nation to be in as bad a position as it is right now. "I don't think there's a single person anywhere who thought that we would still be facing this in December, let alone that this would be at such a peak at this particular time," said Dr. Robert Amler, dean of New York Medical College's School of Health Sciences and Practice and a former chief medical officer at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ali Mokdad, chief strategy officer for population health at the University of Washington, is more blunt: "I never expected this to happen in the U.S." As the nation slides into a dark and dangerous winter and states are turning to stricter restrictions and lockdowns, what has changed since March and how did it go so wrong? Stark numbers of deaths, hospitalizations tell the storyOn March 31, a White House prediction said 100,000 to 240,000 could die by the end of the year. More than 2 million would die without social distancing and other mitigation. The latest modeling, however, from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects more than 345,000 deaths by Jan. 1. Monica Schoch-Spana, a senior scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, called COVID-19 in the U.S. "a protracted, open-ended and ongoing type of crisis." "I assumed this would have gotten under control like it did in other countries," she said. "I didn't expect that we would have such a fragmented and uneven response that would keep us in such an acute stage of the crisis." Coronavirus surge: How a third wave of COVID-19 engulfed the US CLOSE Without masks and a vaccine, we could reach Herd Immunity from COVID-19, but deaths would skyrocket. We break down the science of it. USA TODAY The U.S. saw its two deadliest days last week, surpassing the daily death peaks of April, according to Johns Hopkins data, as Wednesday reached 2,804 deaths and Thursday reached 2,879 deaths. Friday, with 2,607 deaths, had the same number of fatalities as what had been the the country's worst day since the start of the pandemic, April 15. "Where we are right now, in my personal opinion, is it's not unexpected but it's higher than we thought it would be," said Jennifer Balkus, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Before December, there hadn't been more than 2,500 deaths in a single day since April 29, when 2,527 people died. Only eight days since the start of the pandemic have seen more than 2,500 deaths in the U.S. Four were in April. Four are in December. "We are in a bad position," said Mokdad, also a professor at the health metrics institute. COVID-19 hospitalizations near 100,000 in US. And experts fear facilities soon be 'overrun' by patients and a lack of staff Hospitalizations across the U.S. have soared past where they peaked in April and later in July. Hospitalizations in April and July never surpassed 60,000 people on a given day, according to the COVID Tracking Project's data, but in this surge of the virus, hospitalizations have mounted. The U.S. moved past the 60,000 threshold on Nov. 10 and has increased almost every day since, passing the 100,000 mark on Wednesday. Balkus said she's worried because peaks in hospitalizations precede peaks in deaths, meaning even more records will be broken. "Given where we are right now, it's really concerning," she said. A summer respite that never happenedSome epidemiologists thought the worst of the virus was happening in April, Mokdad said. The hope, he said, was to get cases to a more manageable level in the summer months. Then, when the weather turned cold and people spent more time inside, community spread would be at a level where testing and contact tracing could be effective. That didn't happen. Instead many states prematurely reopened and the U.S. saw summer peaks, Mokdad said. Schoch-Spana said the U.S. had the tools in place for a better pandemic response. "Had they been applied I think we would have had a different outcome, regardless of what we did or did not know about the virus itself." For Schoch-Spana, the politicization around the virus and the U.S. response is an area where there has been consistency – but to the country's detriment. The racial scapegoating of China, the lack of national support for mask wearing and the rush to promote drugs such as hydroxychloroquine were all tactics to manipulate public perceptions of the pandemic for political reasons, she said. "The Trump administration saw value in social fragmentation. And that's the one thing you can't have in the middle of a pandemic," she said. "It has prevented the country and localities from pulling together in the same direction." Amler said one of the biggest changes from March through December has been scientists' understanding of the role of airborne transmission and asymptomatic infections. That shift in understanding of transmission highlights how important the changed guidance on masks was, Balkus added, saying she wished the U.S. overall had done better early on in trying to understand that the nature of the pandemic was evolving. What we know about face masks has changed: Here's what experts say and which states mandate masks "Changes in guidance are not a bad thing when you're trying to understand the dynamics of a brand-new virus," she said. "Updating guidance, that's good ... (and) one of the areas where we could have done better." Some strategy hasn't changedWhile doctors and public health officials have a greater respect for how the virus is able to spread compared with the early days, Amler said, the guidance of avoiding others to block exposure has not changed. "The overall strategy is if there's no exposure, there can be no infection, and if there is no infection, there's no illness, and if there's no illness, there's no risk," he said. Social distancing: It's not about you, it's about us "I think that's one of the challenges," Balkus said. "The tools we have had since April are the tools we have now. That consistency is good, but it can feel frustrating. "We are in that same place of being socially distant, washing your hands and wearing a mask." According to a Gallup poll at the end of October, 62% of Americans said that their lives were "not yet back to normal." But some may be less likely than in April to stay home if new stay-at-home orders were introduced, such as in California. In the same Gallup poll from Oct. 19 to Nov. 1, just under half of Americans said they would be "very likely" to stay home for a month if public health officials recommended doing so because of a serious outbreak in their communities. A Gallup poll from March 30 to April 5, however, showed that 67% of people said they'd be "very likely" to stay home. California reintroduced stay-at-home orders for most of its residents this week, and many other states are reinstituting similar restrictions on bars, restaurants and other businesses that had been enacted in the spring and rolled back over the summer and fall. Data shows some people have returned to traveling, too. The Transportation Security Administration saw its busiest day of fliers since March on Nov. 29 as more than 1.1 million people passed through its checkpoints. Holiday travel: CDC says Americans should avoid travel during winter holiday season, get COVID-19 tests if they do Before that day, more than 1.1 million people hadn't passed through TSA checkpoints since March 16. While much of the travel could be attributed to the Thanksgiving holiday, TSA numbers from throughout October and November indicate many people are flying again. The U.S. crossed the 1 million screenings in a day threshold for the first time since March on Oct. 18, and numbers never dipped below 560,000 in either month. The low in April bottomed out to as few as 87,534 fliers screened on the 14th. Cellphone mobility data tracked by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation also shows less social distancing. Though mobility has leveled off in recent weeks, the change is still much higher than the declines seen at the end of March and early April. Better treatments and now the 'home stretch'Unlike in March and April, how doctors treat COVID-19 is a positive change in the fight against the pandemic, Mokdad said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has eight active emergency use authorizations for drug and biological products to treat COVID-19. One drug, remdesivir, has received approval for treating COVID-19 in adults and children 12 and older and weighing at least 88 pounds. Among the options available to doctors treating COVID-19 patients are antibody, convalescent plasma and antiviral therapies. Mokdad said such treatments have led to a decrease in hospital fatality rates. Overall case fatality rates have dropped over the course of the pandemic in the U.S. "Clinicians have learned, sadly the hard way, how to better manage" COVID-19, Schoch-Spana said. COVID-19 vaccine: Side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine means 'your body responded the way it's supposed to,' experts say The nation also is closer than ever to having a vaccine authorized for use. "Although we are not at the finish line, I think we're beginning to get into a home stretch," Amler said. The FDA could grant emergency use authorization to a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as this week. Schoch-Spana said more managing of public expectations needs to be done, however. "I think there's a public expectation that the vaccine is coming and we're all going to get it. The reality is it's going to be coming slowly at first and in limited amounts," she said. Balkus said the news around the vaccine is "remarkable and thrilling." It can often take years to get a safe and effective vaccine for a disease and is something some work their entire careers on, but now, "the biggest thing at this point is to stay vigilant." "This is the time to go all in on protecting your family, protecting yourself, so you and your loved ones are able and still there to get the vaccine," she said. Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/12/08/covid-19-pandemic-changed-since-march-more-deaths-vaccine/3782671001/  |
| Breaking down Chiefs' tackle options if Eric Fisher, Mike Remmers can't play - Chiefs Wire Posted: 17 Dec 2020 12:35 PM PST It's beginning to look like the Kansas City Chiefs will be without one or both their starting tackles against the New Orleans Saints. Both Eric Fisher and Mike Remmers were absent from practice for a second consecutive day on Thursday, putting their status for Week 15 up in the air. The situation at tackle was already dire with former starting RT Mitchell Schwartz on injured reserve due to a back injury. They also don't have rookie Lucas Niang, who opted out of the 2020 season. With a depleted group at the tackle position the options are dwindling, but here's a look at the various options the Chiefs will have to weigh. OT Yasir Durant Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports An undrafted rookie, Durant is the only player on the roster that has played snaps at tackle this season. He had 24 snaps at right tackle during the Week 14 game against the Miami Dolphins, filling in after Mike Remmers suffered his back injury. Durant's performance drew praise and a vote of confidence from Chiefs HC Andy Reid heading into Week 15, but he did surrender a sack in Miami on a third down. It's clear that he still has a long way to go in his development, but he very well could be one of the two starting tackles for Kansas City on Sunday. OL Martinas Rankin Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images Rankin hasn't played a single snap for the Chiefs since suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2019. Even then, he mostly played along the interior offensive line with a single snap at right tackle. Prior to his time in Kansas City, Rankin was with the Houston Texans. He played all over the offensive line, protecting Deshaun Watson in 2018, with over 300 snaps between the left and right tackle positions. Even though he hasn't played a down this season, Rankin might be the most experienced option in terms of having played NFL snaps at the tackle position. That puts him in line to start on Sunday, assuming he's healthy. He's been listed on the injury report for weeks as a full participant in practice with a knee injury since being activated from the PUP list. OL Bryan Witzmann Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports Witzmann spent the 2016-2017 seasons with the Chiefs, appearing in 27 regular-season games and starting in 13 games at left guard during the 2017 season. He made the initial 53-man roster in 2018 but was released to make room for now-starting center Austin Reiter. Witzmann rejoined the Chiefs as a member of the practice squad back in late October. He has been elevated to the roster twice, but once with the COVID-19 replacement designation. That means he can be elevated using the standard elevation once more. RG Andrew Wylie Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports Wylie has started games at both the right and left guard positions during his three-year career with the Chiefs. He does have the ability to bounce outside and play tackle too. In fact, he played two snaps at right tackle last season. Right now, Wylie is currently the starter at right guard for Kansas City, but perhaps he's viewed among the best options to fill in with the team in a pinch. What I would do Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports If Fisher and Remmers can't play, I'm making sure that I have the best possible players on the field as my starters. From left to right, here is what my group would look like: LT Martinas Rankin, LG Nick Allegretti, C Austin Reiter, RG Stefen Wisniewski, RT Andrew Wylie. In this scenario, I'm banking on a healthy Martinas Rankin who has experience playing on the left side. I'm shifting Wylie down the line because he's a veteran guy with the size and length to play tackle. It allows the team to insert former starting LG Stefen Wisniewski into the lineup on the opposite side. They'd have to sign Wisniewski to the 53-man roster in order to do this, but I feel like that was coming with or without the injuries along the offensive line. If the goal is to get the best five guys on the field, this is what that group looks like for me. What the Chiefs will probably do Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports The Chiefs have shown faith in Yasir Durant already, so I anticipate they'll keep him in the starting lineup. It'll be a trial by fire for the rookie, but in the NFL they believe in that next-man-up mentality. That'd leave the lineup for the Chiefs as follows: LT Martinas Rankin, LG Nick Allegretti, C Austin Reiter, RG Andrew Wylie, RT Yasir Durant. This lineup would have the least amount of shifting along the offensive line and keep that offensive interior intact. I feel like Rankin has been on the roster and would be the first man up at the left tackle position. He has experience playing on the left side and you probably don't want a rookie protecting the blindside of your half-billion-dollar quarterback.  |
| Posted: 17 Dec 2020 03:10 AM PST BURLINGTON, Vt. — It was Christmas, and Linda Luxenberg couldn't wait to spend it with her son Travis in his new home. She had purchased a log cabin in Waitsfield, Vermont and called it Nice Place. There, Linda Luxenberg hoped, her son, who has severe autism, would be safe from the chaos that ran his life for years. "This boy is going to have Christmas at Nice Place, with his sisters and his mom," she told the Burlington Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. She furnished the home and bought her son new clothes. "Trav' was in heaven." But what followed was less than idyllic. Linda and Travis Luxenberg were the subjects of a 2019 Free Press series that documented their struggle to find adequate housing and programming. Travis Luxenberg, 33, was in a dangerous home care program with caregivers who could not — or would not — stop him from destructive behaviors or make sure he didn't wander on his own. More: No one will take him: A mother's fight to improve care for her high-needs, adult son As reporting for that series was underway, Linda Luxenberg learned that the state of Vermont had approved over $500,000 for a new program with Upper Valley Services, a nonprofit service agency accredited by the state. It was to be designed specifically around his needs, and would provide at least two caregivers at all times, an autism specialist and improved security measures. The Free Press series ended with Linda Luxenburg hopeful that the new program would support her son's needs, but that optimism was short-lived. Travis Luxenberg's program fell apart within months, despite a nearly 270% increase in state and federal funding. The program failed, Linda Luxenberg said, because of a lack of programming devised by an autism expert and the inability to find staff to implement it. Including Nice Place, Travis Luxenberg has lived in six different facilities in one year. Neighbors who witnessed the events last spring, autism advocates and friends of Linda Luxenberg have flooded local and national representatives, as well as administrators in the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, with correspondence advocating for Travis Luxenberg's safety. Beverly Frost, a mother of an adult son with autism, has spent "untold hours" over the last two years advocating for Travis Luxenberg. She stated in a letter to a state senator dated November 9, "His situation is dire and getting worse by the day." The Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living declined to comment on the specifics of Travis Luxenberg's case. Bill Ashe, who was executive director when Upper Valley Services was running Luxenberg's program in Waitsfield, has since retired. Ashe referred all questions about Luxenberg to the current executive director, Gloria Quinn, who declined to comment. Program impossible to staff, worker cites dangersTravis Luxenberg's program fell apart, his mother said, in large part because they couldn't find a program director with expertise.They couldn't maintain staff who showed up for work — and didn't run away from her son when he was struggling. Warren Uzzle was building a handrail at Nice Place when a rock flew within a few feet of his head, hurtling toward a window. Moments later, Travis Luxenberg jumped through the shattered window, Uzzle remembered, and landed on shards of glass outside. Uzzle was initially hired by Linda Luxenberg, to make safety improvements to a home she purchased for Travis and his support workers. As it happened, Uzzle had a background in special education. Before starting a small construction business in retirement, Uzzle worked as a special education administrator. He offered to work with Travis as a staff member and was hired by Upper Valley Services in April 2020. Within two weeks, he left the job. "I called Linda, and I said, 'Linda, there is no program, and you need to get him out of there,'" Uzzle said. Uzzle described an uncoordinated and chaotic environment with little to no interaction with supervisory staff at Upper Valley Services. The support workers, he said, struggled to deal with the complexity of Luxenberg's needs. "I decided it was unsafe to be there for Travis, for the staff and for me." While Uzzle was still working in the home as a contractor, he saw staff members fall backward off the porch onto ice. He suggested Upper Valley Services build a railing, but they never followed through. "I did an estimate for them and everything," he said. "I suggested improving the steps because they were poorly constructed, that was never followed up on either." More: 'It's just neglect': 2 deaths in provider homes reveal flaws in Vermont's autism care "There is no staff communication or meetings, ever," Uzzle said. By the time he left, he had been working at Nice Place in some capacity for over three months — almost the entire time the Upper Valley Services program was operational. Staff didn't communicate with each other when they changed shifts about Luxenberg's mood or behavior that day, Uzzle said. Some staff simply observed the home from afar, he said, and walked off at the end of the shift. Crises led to loss of guardianship, temporary stay in trailerTravis Luxenberg experienced crisis after crisis in the spring of 2020. He started breaking the windows of the house and smashing the workers' car windshields on May 14, police records show. A staff member tried to "wrestle him back into the house," after which a neighbor fired a gun into the air in an attempt to stop the skirmish outside. "The healthcare workers advised that this has been happening lately and it does not appear safe for the community," a state trooper wrote. Travis Luxenberg had a significant episode four days later on May 18, when police reported he was "out of control at his residence." First responders brought him to Dartmouth Hitchock Medical Center in New Hampshire, records show, where he stayed for three months. Then, COVID hit. The hospital needed him to leave, and Linda Luxenberg and the state's disability services department couldn't come to an agreement on where he would go, she said. The state wanted to place him in temporary crisis housing — a trailer in Wardsboro, Vermont run by the Vermont Crisis Intervention Network — a plan Linda refused because she believed it would end poorly for her son. Dartmouth Hitchcock petitioned to have Linda Luxenberg's guardianship removed in August, and Travis Luxenberg was moved to the trailer. An attorney for the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living said the department can't comment on specific cases, but did cite the part of the law that was used to justify the removal of her guardianship: a "change in the capacity or suitability of the guardian for carrying out his or her powers and duties." "It was like they put a knife through my heart," Linda Luxenberg said. Twenty-five percent of Vermonters with disabilities who responded to the 2018-19 National Core Indicators survey had a state-appointed guardian, compared to 9% nationally. The Vermont Crisis Intervention Network is an Upper Valley Services program that offers training, consultation and crisis housing, according to Gloria Quinn, executive director of Upper Valley Services. About 35 people with disabilities stay in the program's two trailers each year, with an average stay of about 17 days. Intended for short-term stays for Vermonters with disabilities, the trailers house one person at a time, with one staff member supporting them. A photograph supplied by Linda Luxenberg of the trailer where Travis Luxenberg was held shows a red, single-wide trailer, the exterior of which appears to be deteriorating. "The focus is on a safe interior suitable for the needs of each person," Quinn wrote in a letter to the Free Press. "The exterior of some of the residences may appear in a state of disrepair, but (Upper Valley Services) and state focus is on the suitability of the location and the safety, security and suitability of the interior space." Within 72 hours, Travis Luxenberg had a "significant episode" at the trailer that resulted in injury to staff, according to a behavior support plan written by staff at Washington County Mental Health Services. Concerns about instability, over-medicationSince Linda Luxenberg lost her guardianship, her son has been moved five times, including stays at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, the trailer in Wardsboro, a "Hyde park facility" operated by the Lamoille County Sheriff's Department and Central Vermont Medical Center according to the behavioral support plan. He was seen briefly at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Vermont after an incident at the Sheriff's facility, but not admitted. As of the publication of this article, Travis Luxenberg is living in a facility in Marshfield, Vermont in a program overseen by Washington County Mental Health Services. Linda Luxenberg, who believes the care is inadequate and that her son is being over-medicated, is mounting a legal effort to regain guardianship that will be heard by the probate court on December 18. While unable to comment on specific clients, Julie Martin, the director of developmental services for Washington County Mental Health Services said the agency's "specialized treatment program is designed, developed and implemented with the full collaboration" of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, the client's guardian and "experts both within and outside our organization." Washington County Mental Health Services has "worked tirelessly" to develop a program that meets Travis Luxenberg's needs, they wrote in a November 10 court filing. Medical staff did increase Luxenberg's medication, they noted, but the change is intended to be "short term and methodically reduced." 'I'm scared. Are you scared?' A Michigan mom's harrowing story of leaving her son with autism to fight COVID-19 alone in Opinion: Why police need better training on how to help people with mental illnesses "Although Travis's team has noticed bouts of lethargic behavior including long periods of sleep, slower speech, tremors, and impacted gross-motor issues ('shuffling' instead of walking)," Washington County Mental Health Services wrote in an affidavit, "his team is diligently and constantly collaborating" with medical professionals to decrease dosages. Travis Luxenberg's time at the Marshfield facility has "constituted the longest stretch of stability that (he) has enjoyed at least since February 2020," according to a court filing by the state. Travis Luxenberg has demonstrated "more safe behaviors and healthy self-determination than he has for at least eight months." Follow Isaac Fornarola on Twitter: @isaacforn Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/17/autism-vermont-struggles-safe-housing-man/3919918001/  |
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