2020’s Jump In Life Insurance Payouts Biggest Since 1918’s Flu Epidemic
In 1918 U.S. life insurer's death payouts jumped 41% due to the flu and, though smaller than that, in 2020 death benefits surged up 15.4%, mostly due to the pandemic. The Washington Post covers the long-term career damage long covid is causing. Other covid news, including surges, are also reported.
The Wall Street Journal:
Covid Spurs Biggest Rise In Life-Insurance Payouts In A Century
The Covid-19 pandemic last year drove the biggest increase in death benefits paid by U.S. life insurers since the 1918 influenza epidemic, an industry trade group said. Death-benefit payments rose 15.4% in 2020 to $90.43 billion, mostly due to the pandemic, according to the American Council of Life Insurers. In 1918, payments surged 41%. (Scism, 12/9)
In other news about the spread of covid —
Washington Post:
Long COVID Is Destroying Careers, Leaving Economic Distress In Its Wake
Across America, many of the nearly 50 million people infected with the coronavirus continue to suffer from some persistent symptoms, with a smaller subset experiencing such unbearable fatigue and other maladies that they can’t work, forcing them to drop out of the workforce, abandon careers and rack up huge debts. (Rowland, 12/9)
CNN:
Covid-19 Patients At This Hospital Are Dying 'At A Rate We've Never Seen Die Before' -- And It's Taking A Toll On Health Care Workers
Nurse Katie Sefton never thought Covid-19 could get this bad -- and certainly not this late in the pandemic. "I was really hoping that we'd (all) get vaccinated and things would be back to normal," said Sefton, an assistant manager at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. But this week Michigan had more patients hospitalized for Covid-19 than ever before. Covid-19 hospitalizations jumped 88% in the past month, according to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. "We have more patients than we've ever had at any point, and we're seeing more people die at a rate we've never seen die before," said Jim Dover, president and CEO of Sparrow Health System. (Marquez and Yan, 12/10)
NBC News:
Apple Store In Texas Closes In Covid Outbreak
An Apple store in Southlake, Texas, is closed Wednesday through Sunday this week following an outbreak of positive Covid-19 cases among staff members. The store, which has 151 employees, reported four positive cases immediately after Black Friday on Nov. 26, according to an internal email obtained by NBC. Now, 22 employees "have shared that they’re positive for Covid-19,” a store manager told staff during a Webex meeting on Wednesday, according to employees who attended. (Schiffer, 12/9)
West Virginia Gazette Mail:
Judge Rules 'Tentative Agreement' On Jails COVID Policy Not Legally Binding
A federal judge on Wednesday determined that West Virginia jails officials and attorneys representing inmates had not reached a legally binding agreement about COVID-19 policies and practices in jails. (Pierson, 12/9)
AP:
Phoenix Zoo Vaccinates Susceptible Animals Against COVID-19
The Phoenix Zoo is the latest among several dozen in the United States to vaccinate animals considered susceptible to getting COVID-19 from close contact with people. Big cats such as Sumatran tigers, jaguars and African lions; many of the zoo’s primates like Bornean orangutans and tiny emperor tamarins; and Egyptian fruit bats, armadillos and two-toed sloths are among the 75 animals that have already received their first shots. (Snow, 12/9)
And in news about covid testing —
Politico:
Biden Health Team Ruled Out Free Covid Tests For All Over Cost, Logistics
The Biden administration opted for a controversial plan to pay for at-home Covid-19 testing through private insurance after officials concluded it would be too costly and inefficient to simply send the tests to all Americans for free, three administration officials told POLITICO. The decision to forgo a European-style approach to testing — which hinges on the government buying and widely distributing rapid tests — has sparked days of backlash, putting the White House on the defensive over its newest plan for containing the virus. (Cancryn and Lim, 12/9)
Dallas Morning News:
Texas Has Millions For School COVID-19 Testing. The Money Has Largely Gone Untouched
Texas has hundreds of millions of dollars to help stop the coronavirus from spreading in schools. But education leaders aren’t spending much of it. An $800 million federal grant -- largely intended to bolster COVID-19 testing in schools -- has gone mostly unused so far, even as students have spent months learning in-person this year. Some district officials say that’s because they’re still working through logistical hurdles and paperwork issues. Others are finding that families are uninterested in getting their children tested on campus. And school nurses, who would in many cases take the lead on testing, are stretched thin even without this extra task. (Richman, 12/9)
Also —
The New York Times:
William Hartmann, 63, Michigan Official Who Disputed Election, Dies
William Hartmann, one of two Republican election officials from Michigan who initially refused to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election in Wayne County, where Joseph R. Biden Jr. had trounced Donald J. Trump, died on Nov. 30 at a hospital in Wyandotte, Mich., near Detroit. He was 63. About two weeks before his death, which was confirmed by the Michigan Republican Party, his sister, Elizabeth Hartmann, wrote on Facebook that Mr. Hartmann was “in ICU with Covid pneumonia and currently on a ventilator.” He had been outspoken in his opposition to Covid vaccines. (Seelye, 12/9)
Axios:
Chris Christie Says It's "Undeniable" He Got COVID From Trump
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in an interview with PBS that he believes it's "undeniable" he got COVID-19 from then-President Trump last year. Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows revealed in his new book that Trump tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 26, 2020 — six days before it was publically announced on Oct. 2. Christie tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 3, 2020. (Frazier, 12/10)
