115,000 Health Workers Died From Covid Over 18 Months, WHO Thinks

Stat: An Estimated 115,000 Health Workers Have Died From Covid-19
Some 115,000 health care workers died from Covid-19 from January 2020 to May of this year, according to a new World Health Organization estimate, as the agency pushed once again for efforts to address vaccine inequity. Globally, 2 in 5 health care workers are fully vaccinated, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing Thursday. But, he added, “that average masks huge differences across regions and economic groupings.” (Joseph, 10/21)

AP: Teachers Ask For Virus Protocols After Student, Staff Deaths
Members of Minnesota’s teachers union are calling on school leaders to do more to protect students and staff after the state Department of Health reported the first student death from COVID-19 this school year. Health officials said the student and two staff members died last week. That increased the total number of school fatalities since the start of the pandemic to two students and 13 school employees, including five workers this year. (10/21)

The Washington Post: A Couple Died Of Covid, Leaving Five Children Behind. A Relative Says People Called Their Deaths ‘Fake News.’
Since the Mitchems’ deaths have made headlines, Mike Mitchem said, almost a dozen people have reached out to tell him they have been vaccinated because they heard Kevin and Misty’s story. Yet he’s also noticed that others online have called the story “fake news.” “Why would the media make up a story this tragic?” he said. “I would give anything for it to not be true, just to have my brother back.” (Mark, 10/21)

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska Reports Record Virus Hospitalizations And Over 1,000 New COVID-19 Cases
Alaska set a record for coronavirus-related hospitalizations and reported 1,024 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, reflecting stubbornly high virus transmission within the state and the ongoing impacts of a surge driven by the highly contagious delta variant. By Thursday, there were 235 people hospitalized with COVID-19 around the state — a higher count than at any point during the pandemic, state data showed. The previous hospitalizations record was 223 on Sept. 25. The new cases bumped Alaska back up to the top spot among U.S. states for seven-day case rates per 100,000 people, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Berman and Krakow, 10/21)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: COVID Death Rate In Rural Georgia Now Double That In Urban Areas
Since August, as the pandemic’s delta variant caused a surge in cases, rural Georgians have been dying of COVID-19 at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of state health data. COVID-19 has claimed more than 19,000 lives in urban counties like Fulton, DeKalb, Muscogee and Bibb, the type of counties where 80% of the state’s population resides. But in the quiet small towns that make up much of the state, the per-capita toll is even greater, especially during this latest surge. In Pierce County, with a population of 19,000 located a dozen miles northeast of Waycross, a resident was 10 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than someone in 1 million-strong Fulton County, home of the state Capitol, the analysis found. (Oliviero, Hart and Perry, 10/22)

The Hill: Kentucky Governor Urges Continued Vigilance In COVID-19 Fight: 'Let's Not Punt On Third Down'
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) on Thursday urged his constituents to remain vigilant in the fight against COVID-19, saying “let’s not punt on the third down.” Beshear, during a news conference, said that while hospitalizations, intensive care capacities and ventilator use are all down, Kentuckians must not become complacent in the fight against COVID-19. (Schnell, 10/21)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

AP: 3 Lions At Indianapolis Zoo Test Positive For Delta Variant
Three African lions at the Indianapolis Zoo have tested positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19 and have been taken off exhibit, officials said Thursday. The lions — females Zuri and Sukari, and male Enzi — tested positive on Oct. 14 after the females showed respiratory and digestive symptoms, officials said. (10/21)

CNBC: The Delta Variant Has A Mutation: What We Know So Far
A newly-discovered mutation of the delta variant is being investigated in the U.K. amid worries that it could make the virus even more transmissible and undermine Covid-19 vaccines further. Still, there are many unknowns surrounding this descendent or subtype of the delta variant — formally known as AY.4.2 — which some are dubbing the new “delta plus” variant. (Ellyatt, 10/21)

The Boston Globe: New Study Reveals Why Provincetown Did Not Become A COVID Super-Spreader Event 
They came from across Massachusetts and around the country to celebrate the start of summer and the loosening of pandemic restrictions. But, before long, the revelers learned they had unwittingly triggered the first known major outbreak of COVID-19 among a highly vaccinated group of people. Now a new study confirms what researchers had suspected, that the gathering in Provincetown, despite its ideal circumstances for triggering a massive number of infections, did not become a super-spreader event around the country. Moreover, the study is the first to trace how the outbreak started in Provincetown, where more than 1,000 people in Massachusetts were infected. (Lazar, 10/21)

Also —

NBC News: Cute Memes Can Help Cope With Covid-Related Stress, Study Says
Viewing Covid-related memes can boost your mood and help cope with pandemic-related stress, according to a recent study. The study, published Monday, shed light on how different kinds of posts can affect a social media user’s emotions, which can influence overall mental health.  (Sung, 10/21)