As Covid Retrenches In Hot Spots, Federal Surge Teams Face Obstacles

Politico: Biden's Covid Surge Teams Begin Rolling Out To A Hostile Heartland
The Biden administration’s coronavirus surge teams have yet to materialize in states across the Midwest and South where the highly contagious Delta variant is leading to a rapid rise in hospitalizations, according to four state health officials and two senior administration officials. The administration has sent a surge team to Nevada, but multiple local health officials there said they aren’t sure if the federal aid — including help with Covid testing and door-to-door visits to promote vaccines — could help the state respond to the spread of Delta, or whether it would have an immediate and significant impact. Nor had the officials decided whether they need the assistance. (Banco and Goldberg, 7/16)

The New York Times: After A Steep Plunge In Virus Cases, Every State Is Seeing An Uptick
The number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in every state, setting off a growing sense of concern from health officials who are warning that the pandemic in the United States is far from over, even though the national outlook is far better than during previous upticks. The 160 million people across the country who are fully vaccinated are largely protected from the virus, including the highly contagious Delta variant, scientists say. In the Upper Midwest, the Northeast and on the West Coast — including in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco — coronavirus infections remain relatively low. (Smith and Bosman, 7/15)

ABC News: WHO Warns Of 'Strong Likelihood' Of New, Possibly More Dangerous Variants 
The World Health Organization warned Thursday that the surging COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world increases the likelihood that new, potentially dangerous variants may emerge in the future. "The pandemic is nowhere near finished," said Professor Didier Houssin, chair of the WHO Emergency COVID-19 Committee. (Acholonu, 7/15)

From the states —

CNN: Louisiana's Latest Covid-19 Surge Features More Unvaccinated People In Their 30s And 40s
For Dr. Frank Courmier, the latest Covid-19 surge hitting his Louisiana hospital is different from the three preceding waves -- the people now getting sick are younger. "We're getting people in their third and fourth decades, otherwise healthy with no real preexisting conditions coming in, unvaccinated and very sick, very fast," Courmier told CNN. "We see almost no vaccinated patients." (Marquez, Dolan and Levenson, 7/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Officials Sound Alarm On Rising Cases In Black, Latino Communities As Delta Variant Spreads
As the more contagious delta variant continues driving up COVID-19 infections among the unvaccinated, San Francisco officials Thursday pleaded anew for residents to get their shots — particularly Black and Latino residents who officials said are more than twice as likely to contract COVID compared to the citywide population. The highly infectious delta variant of the virus will lead to at least 250 more deaths, with most being African American and Latino, Mayor London Breed said at a news conference in the Bayview neighborhood. (Ho, 7/15)

WJCT 89.9 FM Jacksonville: Northeast Florida Is CDC Hotspot For COVID As Delta Variant Spreads 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers Northeast Florida’s six-county area a COVID-19 hotspot, an area where the virus is spreading rapidly. The more transmissible delta variant is taking hold in counties with low vaccination rates like Baker, which saw a 267% increase in cases over the past two weeks. UF Health Jacksonville director of Infection Prevention Chad Neilsen said Wednesday on WJCT's First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross that his hospital’s COVID-19 ward is seeing a 10% to 15% rise in admissions per day. (Corum, 7/15)

The Washington Post: Covid Cases Are On The Rise In The D.C. Region. Experts Say Several Factors Are To Blame. 
New coronavirus cases are slowly increasing in Virginia, Maryland and the District, and public health experts say the rise is being fueled by three factors: relaxed restrictions on gatherings and mask mandates, persistent pockets of unvaccinated people and a rise in the highly contagious delta variant. Experts say it is too soon to tell if the increase represents a temporary blip from July Fourth parties and vacations, or the start of a lasting trend as the pandemic stretches into its 17th month. (Portnoy, Wiggins and Fadulu, 7/15)

In sports news —

The New York Times: Yankees’ Shutdown Emphasizes Staying Power of the Coronavirus
The Yankees have reached the 85 percent vaccination rate M.L.B. requires to operate under relaxed Covid protocols, but General Manager Brian Cashman said the team had again experienced breakthrough cases, two months after an outbreak of nine cases, mostly within the coaching staff. ... The Red Sox are one of seven M.L.B. teams that have not reached the 85 percent vaccination threshold. Another one of those teams, the Philadelphia Phillies, put four players on the Covid-19 injured list before Sunday’s game in Boston, but that game was played. This one was postponed, the league said, to allow for continued testing and contact tracing. (Kepner, 7/15)

The Atlantic: Post-Vaccination Infections Come in 2 Different Flavors
The first thing to know about the COVID-19 vaccines is that they’re doing exactly what they were designed and authorized to do. Since the shots first started their rollout late last year, rates of COVID-19 disease have taken an unprecedented plunge among the immunized. We are, as a nation, awash in a glut of spectacularly effective vaccines that can, across populations, geographies, and even SARS-CoV-2 variants, stamp out the most serious symptoms of disease. The second thing to know about the COVID-19 vaccines is that they’re flame retardants, not impenetrable firewalls, when it comes to the coronavirus. Some vaccinated people are still getting infected, and a small subset of these individuals is still getting sick—and this is completely expected. (Wu, 7/12)

AP: AP Source: 4 NFL Teams Remain Under 50% Vaccinated
Four NFL teams remain under 50% vaccinated less than two weeks from the start of training camp, a person familiar with the vaccination rates told The Associated Press. Washington, Indianapolis, Arizona and the Los Angeles Chargers had the four lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the league as of Thursday, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, because the league hasn’t released the numbers. (Maaddi, 7/16)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Noticias Telemundo: COVID-19 Found In The Bodies Of Migrants Recovered At Southern Border 
About 40% of undocumented immigrants who died on their way to the U.S. and ended up in a Falfurrias, Texas, morgue had contracted COVID-19 prior to their deaths. A Noticias Telemundo Investiga report shows an increased incidence of coronavirus in the bodies of migrants recovered in border states, as the number of deceased John and Jane Does rises this summer. (Franco, 7/15)

NBC News: 'Horrific': 2 Unvaccinated Covid Patients Require Lung Transplant, Partial Lung Removal
The families of two unvaccinated men who underwent major lung surgery after they contracted the coronavirus are encouraging others to get the shots and re-evaluating their own vaccine hesitancy. A 24-year-old Georgia man who was hesitant about getting vaccinated against Covid-19 underwent a double lung transplant after months in the hospital battling the virus. His mother urges people to protect themselves and get the shots. (Burke, 7/15)