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Students, staff turn out for community-wide JCPS vaccination clinic | News – wdrb.com

By |2023-02-04T21:21:14-05:00February 4th, 2023|COVID-19|

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- JCPS held a community-wide vaccination clinic on Saturday.The clinic was held at Newcomer Academy and was open to all students and staff with Jefferson County Public Schools.Students were able to get vaccinated against measles, COVID-19, and the flu, and staff members were able to get COVID-19 boosters.A spokesperson for JCPS says the district had its highest turnout ever for the clinic, with hundreds of people rolling up their sleeves."It has been a wonderful thing," said Eva Stone, a nurse practitioner and manager for JCPS district health. "Parents are really responding and I think it speaks to the need. We have nearly 12,000 students in JCPS who show they're not current on measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. A lot of those are children living in poverty and children of color. And so we know we have a lot of immigrant and refugee families living in the city. There is an access issue for many families to get vaccines for their children."The first 500 students to get a vaccine also got a $20 gift card from the Kentucky Association of Health Plans.Copyright 2022 by WDRB Media. All rights reserved.

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Norton reinstates mask mandate on same day UofL Health drops it: – WLKY

By |2023-02-04T20:23:32-05:00February 4th, 2023|COVID-19|

BACK ON TRACK. AND THIS WEEK, UNIVERSAL HEALTH IS EXPECTED TO LIFT THEIR UNIVERSAL MASKING REQUIREMENT. THAT MEANS MASKS WILL NOT HAVE TO BE WORN BY TEAM MEMBERS, PATIENTS OR VISITORS. AND ALSO THE MANDATORY COVID TESTING FOR ADMISSION AND PROCEDURES THAT’S GOING TO END. TESTING WILL ONLY NEED TO BE DONE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE SHOWING ACTUAL COVID SYMPTOMS. AND OF COURSE, IF YOU WANT TO WEAR A MASK, YOU STILL CAN. BUT THE SAME CAN’T BE SAID FOR NORTON HEALTHCARE, WHICH HAS MADE THE DECISION TO REINSTATE THEIR MASKING POLICIES IN LOCAL HOSPITALS. THAT MEANS ALL EMPLOYEES, PATIENTS AND VISITORS WILL BE REQUIRED TO WEAR A MASK STARTING TOMORROW. NORTON IS CONTINUING TO EVALUATE LOCAL AND NATIONAL DATA FOR COVID CASES. RIGHT NO

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Writers festival: Conductor Teddy Abrams discusses creativity at Rancho Mirage event

By |2023-02-04T20:23:34-05:00February 4th, 2023|Breonna Taylor, COVID-19|

When a talk is titled "Rock Star Conductor," the bar's already been set quite high. But the Friday morning conversation between music critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim and Louisville Orchestra and Britt Festival Orchestra music director Teddy Abrams at the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival couldn't have been titled more appropriately.Abrams, a 35-year-old Bay Area native who began playing piano at age 4 and then clarinet in elementary school, studied conducting under San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas at 12, attended Laney College and Foothill College during his teens and graduated with a Bachelor of Art from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at 18.Fonseca-Wollheim started the conversation asking about a musical he's creating based on a 2017 composition inspired by the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. Abrams said his interest in musical art is "exploring as much as possible" without adhering to the expectations of the labels such as conductor, composer and instrumentalist."I've always felt passionate about composing because it's the ultimate exercise in exploring your own creativity. I wouldn't trust a conductor that's never composed anything," Abrams said. "If you've never been through the process of trying to translate the sounds you hear onto a page, then I don't think you're getting the full experience when you go and engineer that process as a conductor."He described himself as a "byproduct of a very Western European hierarchy of art" and challenged the indoctrination in music education presenting composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Mozart as top-tier. He labeled these famed composers as "standards" because that's what most aspiring classical composers look to when starting out, however, he doesn't think old-school figures like Bach should get in the way of modern composers' creativity. "It's hard to nurture what your own voice might be," Abrams said. "Other genres of art suffer from this too, but our brethren in the pop music world are less bound by this. There's more of an expectation in that world that each generation gets to express something new or isn't necessarily compared in opposition to what came before. It's allowed to be a new way of creating music during each decade and moment."Abrams highlighted the vibrant history of the Louisville Orchestra going back to its founding in 1937 by composer Robert Whitney and former Louisville mayor Charles Farnsley to be the "most important commissioning orchestra in the world" and a $5 million donation by the Rockefeller Foundation led to 160 albums by "standard" composers and others discovered in South America and the U.S."It's such a beautiful image of what American cities can do and be," Abrams said. "One of the reasons I work in Louisville is because it can matter what you do to people there. We've tried to create the same inspiration for that plan back in the '40s to be the center of new music, but do it in a way that makes sense for the 21st century."As Louisville suffered through the COVID-19 pandemic, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was killed by police when they raided her home with a 'no knock' warrant in 2020. Abrams said the city was "torn apart in so many ways.""I have always suggested that artists are some of the most capable people in healing," Abrams said. "They're the best people to hold up mirrors and say 'Here's a reflection of who we are" and 'But here is a dream of what we could be.' If you have a city without artists like that, it's soulless. I thought it was an amazing opportunity to attract those people. Our city has been through the ringer, we've had our challenges, but if we're to be better and find ways of connecting and caring about each other, we need to attract artists there because they start the process and inspire others to do it."But what impact do an orchestra's donors have on the decisions on the creative direction and what music is included in an annual program? Abrams said putting a city's name in an organization means providing a service to that community but added 95% of orchestras aren't selecting music based on donors making specific requests."When I'm talking to a person that can give money to a medical or educational cost or give money to the arts, I am trying to express a vision where the orchestra matters in our community," Abrams said.Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @bblueskye. 

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Decisions loom for pandemic-era Medicaid enrollees in Kentucky – Spectrum News

By |2023-02-03T19:22:19-05:00February 3rd, 2023|COVID-19|

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Some Kentuckians who signed up for Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon have to shop around to maintain health insurance coverage, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. What You Need To Know Gov. Andy Beshear says Kentuckians who signed up for Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon need to shop around to maintain health coverage He said Thursday that his administration will help people through the transition Beshear estimates that during the global health crisis, about a quarter-million Kentuckians enrolled in Medicaid, a federal and state health care program for poor and disabled people Last year, Congress told states they could start removing ineligible people in April The Democratic governor said his administration intends to help people through the transition. “This is a big job," Beshear said at his weekly news conference. "And it’s one we’ve been planning on for many months and it’s one that we will continue to refine our planning.” During the global health crisis, about a quarter-million Kentuckians signed up for pandemic Medicaid, the governor estimated. Medicaid a joint federal and state health care program for poor and disabled people. The surge in sign-ups reflected a nationwide trend. Medicaid enrollment ballooned during the pandemic, in part because the federal government prohibited states from removing people from the program during the public health emergency once they had enrolled. Now, with President Joe Biden’s administration saying it plans to end the national emergencies for addressing COVID-19, changes are coming. It means pandemic-era enrollees in Medicaid will need to have their eligibility redetermined, the governor said. And for many, it means health coverage decisions are looming in the coming months. Late last year, Congress told states they could start removing ineligible people in April. The governor on Thursday predicted that some affected Kentuckians will continue qualifying for Medicaid. Others will be able to switch to Medicare coverage, while others can transition to insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act’s private marketplace. The Department for Medicaid Services and managed care organizations will reach out with more information for people faced with making the transition, the governor's office said. Kentuckians also can seek help through the state-run web portal known as kynect, the health insurance exchange where Kentuckians can shop and sign up for health coverage and find out whether they qualify for subsidies to help afford coverage. “We want to ensure all the Kentuckians impacted — every single one of them — are transitioned to one of the new plans,” Beshear said. “There’s much more information to come, but we want to let people know about these changes very early.” Beshear commonly refers to health care as a “basic human right.” Last year, the governor extended Medicaid coverage for dental, vision and hearing care to hundreds of thousands of Kentucky adults. His father, Steve Beshear, championed the state’s Medicaid expansion when he was governor. More than 400,000 people were added to the Medicaid rolls when Steve Beshear expanded the program to cover able-bodied adults. For many Kentuckians, it was their first time having health coverage.

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Louisville hospital systems consider different metrics when deciding whether to mask or not

By |2023-02-03T19:22:20-05:00February 3rd, 2023|COVID-19|

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital systems are still considering whether to mask up or take them off.Starting next week, masking will no longer be required at UofL Health. "It wasn't a 'We're going to do this,' it's been a long process for us," Dr. Jason Smith, with UofL Health, said.Dr. Smith says they consistently monitor state and county COVID numbers, as well as their own. Since Thanksgiving, Smith says their COVID patient numbers have remained low, around 40.Cases within their workface have been in the single digits. The COVID-19 community levels in Kentucky. (Source: CDC) "So with all of those factors that we kind of looked at, we decided that we had met the criteria that we had set forward for being able to get rid of the mask mandates within our healthcare system," Dr. Smith said.Meanwhile, Norton Healthcare is reinstating its masking policy starting Friday. They based the decision on the county's current transmission rate, which the latest CDC Community Transmission map shows is high."Things have changed throughout COVID," Renee Murphy, Norton Healthcare Senior VP of Communications, said. "It's always been a very fluid situation so we'll continue to stay in contact, take a looking at the transmission rates and take it from there."Baptist Health is masking currently, also basing its policy on the high transmission rate throughout the county."We do have patients that don't have an immune system, we do take care of other patients, so it's our responsibility to take acre of them as well," Dr. Karan Shah, with Baptist Health, said.CDC's COVID Community Map shows Jefferson County in the green. It considers number of new COVID cases as well as hospitalizations. But the transmission map, which shows Jefferson County in the red, is based on the number of new cases and positive tests, according to Dr. Shah. A map of community transmission of COVID-19, which shows Jefferson County in the red. (Source: CDC) "I just want the public to know that 'Hey, there is a rhyme and reason for the way these decision are made,'" Dr. Shah said. "And there are two different maps even though they're called very similar things. There's a difference."According to Dr. Smith, community transmission may show an elevated number since at-home negative tests aren't reported."The transmission levels have still been high. They were hovering right around 12 and a half to 12.7% right around Christmas time. But that has dropped consistently every week since Christmas up until now," Dr. Smith said. "I think right now we're sitting at right around like 10.05% or 10.1%, somewhere around those lines. So you've seen almost a 2% drop and community transmission levels." UofL Health will continue to monitor COVID levels in the community."It's a period of time we're going to drop masking but it doesn't mean it may not have to come back again and people need to be prepared for that," Dr. Smith said.Dr. Shah says while there's been an "overall downtrend" in COVID, it's hasn't gone completely away. He encourages people to get vaccinated if they haven't done so and consider masking when in big crowds."You never know who it's going to protect so it is important that (people remember) COVID is not gone," said Dr. Shah.Related StoriesCopyright 2023 by WDRB Media. All rights reserved. 

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Decisions loom for pandemic-era Medicaid enrollees in KY | whas11.com

By |2023-02-03T19:22:22-05:00February 3rd, 2023|COVID-19|

Gov. Andy Beshear says Kentuckians who signed up for Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon need to shop around to maintain health coverage. FRANKFORT, Ky. — Some Kentuckians who signed up for Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic will soon have to shop around to maintain health insurance coverage, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. The Democratic governor said his administration intends to help people through the transition. “This is a big job," Beshear said at his weekly news conference. "And it’s one we’ve been planning on for many months and it’s one that we will continue to refine our planning.” During the global health crisis, about a quarter-million Kentuckians signed up for pandemic Medicaid, the governor estimated. Medicaid a joint federal and state health care program for poor and disabled people. The surge in sign-ups reflected a nationwide trend. Medicaid enrollment ballooned during the pandemic, in part because the federal government prohibited states from removing people from the program during the public health emergency once they had enrolled. Now, with President Joe Biden’s administration saying it plans to end the national emergencies for addressing COVID-19, changes are coming. It means pandemic-era enrollees in Medicaid will need to have their eligibility redetermined, the governor said. And for many, it means health coverage decisions are looming in the coming months. Late last year, Congress told states they could start removing ineligible people in April. The governor on Thursday predicted that some affected Kentuckians will continue qualifying for Medicaid. Others will be able to switch to Medicare coverage, while others can transition to insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act’s private marketplace. The Department for Medicaid Services and managed care organizations will reach out with more information for people faced with making the transition, the governor's office said. Kentuckians also can seek help through the state-run web portal known as kynect, the health insurance exchange where Kentuckians can shop and sign up for health coverage and find out whether they qualify for subsidies to help afford coverage. “We want to ensure all the Kentuckians impacted — every single one of them — are transitioned to one of the new plans,” Beshear said. “There’s much more information to come, but we want to let people know about these changes very early.” Beshear commonly refers to health care as a “basic human right.” Last year, the governor extended Medicaid coverage for dental, vision and hearing care to hundreds of thousands of Kentucky adults. His father, Steve Beshear, championed the state’s Medicaid expansion when he was governor. More than 400,000 people were added to the Medicaid rolls when Steve Beshear expanded the program to cover able-bodied adults. For many Kentuckians, it was their first time having health coverage. [embedded content] Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users. Have a news tip? Email [email protected], visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

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Norton Healthcare to reinstate mask mandate in Louisville hospitals – Spectrum News

By |2023-02-03T19:22:24-05:00February 2nd, 2023|COVID-19|

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Norton Healthcare said it's reinstating the mask mandate in its Louisville-area hospitals starting Friday. Norton Healthcare said all employees, patients and visitors must wear one, regardless of their vaccination status. The mandate will stay in effect until further notice. The decision was made following the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which shows the City of Louisville to have a "high" transmission level for COVID-19. As of Thursday, Jefferson County remains in the low transmission level.  "The safety of our patients, staff and community remains a top priority," the health system said in a press release. While Norton Healthcare is reinstating the mask mandate, UofL Health announced it will be lifting the mandate starting Monday.  Related Stories

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A micro wedding was a ‘blessing in disguise’ for this Louisville couple. Here’s why – Courier-Journal

By |2023-02-02T06:31:02-05:00February 2nd, 2023|COVID-19|

The COVID-19 pandemic put a hard stop on the large-scale wedding Lindsey Kleyer and her fiancé Junseong Choi had planned for June 27, 2020. But rather than allowing the shutdown of large gatherings to crush their dream, the young couple, like thousands of others around the world, revamped their expectations and went ahead with a micro wedding."Our small wedding turned out to be a gift in ways we never would have expected," Lindsey Kleyer Choi told the Courier Journal. "I was worried a very small wedding would be awkward or it wouldn't feel special but the opposite happened. We look back on the day and say we wouldn't have wanted it any other way."Three years later, even though the pandemic has started to slow down, micro weddings are turning out to be more than just a fad. On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Whitehall, a historic mansion at 3110 Lexington Road, will hold a series of six micro weddings similar to the ceremony the Chois experienced in 2020.The cost for February's Whitehall micro weddings is $500 per ceremony. Like a traditional larger marriage ceremony, each wedding will include an officiant, cake and champagne, and a complimentary wedding portrait with the option to purchase additional photos. Up to 20 guests may attend. Couples may also choose to renew their vowsYou may like:'I love it.' How one man creates magic with liquid nitrogen ice cream and cocktail company"We sold out all six-time slots within a couple of hours," said Whitehall Executive Director Kristen Lutes. "Based on the popularity, we will be offering another series of micro weddings in May and we'll see where it goes from there."One positive outcome of the pandemic is that it has given couples permission to choose the size of wedding that feels the best for them and fits their values, lifestyle, and budget.There were more than 1.9 million traditional weddings held in 2022. According to The Wedding Report, an industry research company, the average cost for each wedding was $27,063.A significantly reduced price tag was a fringe benefit of Lindsey and Jun Seong Choi's scaled-back affair but in their case, the cost wasn't the catalyst. Social distancing to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus was the primary reason for their smaller, yet elegant ceremony and reception."The pandemic made it impossible for some of our guests to travel so there were only 18 people including our bridesmaids and groomsmen," said Choi. "Everyone still dressed up. I wore my wedding dress, and the bridesmaids were in their gowns and the grooms in suits."You may like:'We have come quite a ways': A Louisville couple finds 1894 Courier Journal behind mantelLike the wedding attire, the couple decided to keep the marriage ceremony similar to what they had planned for their larger wedding. Members of the wedding party read passages of scripture and the pastor delivered a short sermon prior to the vows.They said the music during their marriage ceremony turned out to be the icing on the cake during their intimate gathering."Junseong and I both sing, we met through a vocal group. Since our wedding was so small, we decided to provide the music ourselves at our own ceremony," Lindsey Choi said. "Junseong played the guitar and I sang and we printed out the words so the guests could sing along, too. It was very special, very sweet, but I don't think it would have felt that intimate at a larger wedding."While traditional weddings aren't going away, small, intimate wedding celebrations, the type the Chois experienced in 2020, are having a moment."So many people told me before our wedding that the day itself would be a blur because of the number of things that needed to be done," Choi said. "However, since the wedding was smaller, I could really live in the moment that day. I was able to enjoy talking with my family and friends and enjoy my reception dinner."You may like:What's a food club? 6 ideas to help you plan your own elevated foodie experienceAfter their garden ceremony at Whitehall's historic mansion, the Chois and their guests proceeded to a private room at a nearby restaurant. Nearly everything aspect of their wedding day was dictated by safety concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lindsey and Jun Seong Choi said the changes to their original plans turned out to be a sweet blessing in disguise."The memories from our day are very special," she said. "Because there were fewer people, I had much less to worry about and I could really focus on the reason we were there. The day didn't feel stressful like I had anticipated. It was sweet and intimate and turned out to be an unexpected surprise we will treasure for the rest of our lives."Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at [email protected].

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Norton Healthcare reinstates mask mandate to Louisville hospitals | News – wdrb.com

By |2023-02-02T06:31:04-05:00February 2nd, 2023|COVID-19|

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Norton Healthcare announced it is restoring the mask requirements for Louisville-area hospitals starting on Friday, Feb. 3. A Norton Healthcare spokesperson said Norton Healthcare monitors the "transmission rate" of Covid-19 and not the "incident rate."They recommend all Norton Healthcare employees, patients and visitors wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. WDRB reported on Feb. 1, 2023 that UofL Health is ending its mask requirement on Monday, Feb. 6. UofL Health also announced they are ending mandatory COVID-19 testing prior to admission. Copyright 2023. WDRB Media. All rights reserved.

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Norton Healthcare reinstates mask requirements in Louisville | whas11.com

By |2023-02-02T06:31:07-05:00February 2nd, 2023|COVID-19|

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Norton Healthcare is reinstating its masking requirements for its Louisville-area hospitals on Friday. According to a statement from the hospital, they said the safety of their patients remains their top priority. They say their health care accrediting agency tracked data in Jefferson County and recommended all employees, patients and visitors wear masks regardless of vaccination status. "Jefferson County has experienced continued community transmission of COVID-19 as detailed in the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker that lists Louisville as being at a "high" level of transmission," they said in the statement. There is no timeline for when the mandate could be lifted again. Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.

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