New Jersey
'Razor Blade Throat' COVID Subvariant Sickens More In NJ
NEW JERSEY – The new COVID-19 omicron subvariant, Nimbus (NB.1.8.1), has become the dominant strain across the United States and in the Garden State.
While 140 total cases across all strains of COVID have been reported in the state, the latest available data from the New Jersey Department of Health shows the Nimbus variety continues to show signs of rapid spread.
According to the World Health Network, Nimbus looks to be more is usually detected by symptoms of a severe sore throat, with a mild cough, fever, muscle aches and congestion. Some patients reported a sensation feeling like “razor blade throat.”
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) modeled projections show a jump from 15 percent to 37 percent nationwide over that same two week period of data through June 7.
This data is subject to further refinement into a weighted adjustment available at a later date. The CDC points out that “due to low numbers of sequences being reported to CDC, precision in the most recent reporting period is low…(they are) moving to longer reporting periods.”
According to the last available data for cases of all variants sequenced in the state, 10 percent of the 507 reported were attributed to the strain. This data is only available through May 17.
A spokesperson for the CDC says that, so far, too few U.S. sequences have been reported to be included in their official variant estimates dashboard, adding that the “CDC is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners.”
“What sets NB.1.8.1 apart is how quickly it spreads,” according to Dr. Magdalena Sobieszczyk, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
“It has a genetic advantage: mutations that make it easy for it to bind to receptors on human cells. The mutations could allow NB.1.8.1 to spread faster and therefore infect more people.”
According to Today, the new variant is now responsible for more than one third of all COVID cases in the United States following surges in Asia this spring.
This strain of the coronavirus was first detected in the U.S. in late March from airport screening procedures for international travelers. More than a dozen states have reported cases of the strain.
As of June 7, overall COVID test positivity have remained relatively flat at 3 percent, up just 0.2 percent from the previous week. COVID hospitalizations are falling, however, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Nimbus variant is growing at a time when federal authorities have dramatically reduced vaccine recommendations from the CDC, with U.S. Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, also removing all of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ members just earlier this month.
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A severe thunderstorm watch looms over North Jersey on the evening of June 12 after days of extreme heat.
Nation Weather Service New York declared a severe thunderstorm watch for numerous North Jersey counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Morris and Sussex among other Central Jersey and New York counties. The watch is in effect until 9 p.m., according to the NWS statement.
In an hourly forecast from The Weather Channel for Paramus, there is a 74% chance of thunderstorms at 7 p.m.
High temperatures reached past 90 degrees in many parts of North Jersey on June 11 and June 12 as a heat advisory also remains in effect until 8 p.m., said NWS New York.
“Dangerous heat is expected to continue across much of our region through today, with several record highs likely to be challenged again. High temperatures are forecast to peak into the low to mid 90s across most of the area,” the National Weather Service said Friday.
A Heat Advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. across the state except for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.
PHILADELPHIA – Philip McPherson II, a 37-year-old from Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced Thursday, June 11, to 78 months in prison for his role in a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sentencing and charges for fatal Lehigh Valley crash
What we know:
United States District Judge John M. Gallagher sentenced McPherson to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution. Judge Gallagher also barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry.
McPherson pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.
The backstory:
Court filings show that on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown as the pilot-in-command with student pilot K.K. and crashed shortly after, resulting in K.K.’s death.
Prosecutors said McPherson acted with gross negligence, knowing he was not competent to fly as pilot-in-command. He had two prior crashes, nearly a third, and failed a reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in September 2021.
McPherson voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate in October 2021 and let his Temporary Airman Certificate expire in November 2021, acknowledging his inability to meet FAA standards.
He admitted to flying with passengers without a valid FAA pilot’s certificate between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, FAA, and Salisbury Township Police Department worked on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The Source: Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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