US Passes 600,000 Covid Deaths In Grim Reminder That Toll Is Still Mounting

NBC News: Covid Has Claimed More Than 600,000 Lives In United States
More than 600,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the United States, a grim reminder that even though cases are down as more people are vaccinated, the pandemic is not over. As of Thursday evening, the country had seen at least 600,040 Covid-19 deaths, according to a count of reports by NBC News. More than 33.4 million cases have been recorded in the U.S. The death toll crossed the 500,000 mark Feb. 21, according to NBC News' count. (Helsel and Mullen, 6/3)

CNBC: Daily U.S. Covid Case Counts Remain Below 20,000 As Nation Averages 1.1 Million Vaccine Shots Per Day
The level of average daily Covid cases remained below 20,000 for the third straight day Wednesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. At the same time, federal data shows the pace of daily reported vaccinations fell to a seven-day average of 1.1 million, the lowest level in months. White House Covid data director Cyrus Shahpar wrote in a tweet Wednesday that the Memorial Day holiday is responsible for lower vaccine administration and a lag in reporting. (Rattner, 6/3)

The Wall Street Journal: The Covid Calculus Of Herd Immunity 
As the roll out for Covid-19 vaccines continues, many people have questions about the idea of herd immunity. After all, vaccines are not just for those who receive them; they are also intended to protect those who can’t or don’t get the shot. Herd immunity doesn’t mean that everyone is somehow immune by association. Rather, it means something quite precise mathematically. The starting point is that viruses spread exponentially: Each person infects, say, three people on average, and each of those people goes on to infect three people, and so on. The number of infected people is repeatedly multiplied by 3 (in this hypothetical example), and repeated multiplication is the definition of an exponential in mathematics. (Cheng, 6/3)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

The Oregonian: 2% Of Oregon’s COVID-19 Infections Are ‘Breakthrough Cases’ In Vaccinated People 
Officials reported Thursday that about 2% of the people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Oregon in May were completely vaccinated -- meaning an overwhelming 98% of those sickened by the coronavirus either were unvaccinated or were only partially vaccinated. A total of 398 Oregonians who’d received their full recommended courses of vaccines were infected with the virus from May 3 to May 31, the Oregon Health Authority announced Thursday, in its monthly report. Officials identified them as “breakthrough cases.” Twelve of them died, according to rough numbers provided by the state. (Green, 6/3)

Modern Healthcare: Sepsis Cases Increased Among Children During COVID-19 Pandemic
Children who received surgery during the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 developed life-threatening sepsis at higher rates than pre-pandemic, according to new research out in the journal Hospital Pediatrics. Study authors are calling for more efforts to improve the safety of care for children post-surgery, especially as health officials estimate the pandemic is not over. (Gillespie, 6/3)

The Boston Globe: Free Pooled COVID Testing Offered To Day Cares Statewide
Thousands of Massachusetts day-care providers will be able to regularly screen children and employees for COVID-19 this summer, thanks to a new partnership between the state and a local nonprofit. Neighborhood Villages, a child-care advocacy group, is teaming up with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care to offer free weekly pooled COVID-19 testing for child-care programs throughout the state. The initiative, which relies on testing kits from the genetic-sequencing company Veritas, will test roughly 6,000 children, teachers, and staff per week throughout the summer, with the potential for expansion in the fall if there is enough demand. (Lyons, 6/3)