Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Covid Variant Worries Continue, WHO Warns World Is At 'Risky' Stage
CNBC: WHO Scientist Warns World Is At 'Very Risky' Stage As Covid Cases Rise
The world needs to ramp up efforts to combat Covid-19 — and countries must not let their guard down, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist warned Monday as coronavirus cases around the world surge. “We’re at a very risky period,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan of the World Health Organization. “We need to double down, this is not the period to let up.” (Ng, 3/8)
In updates on covid variants —
Bloomberg: Variant’s Spread In Florida Shows Threat To U.S. Covid Recovery
A highly infectious Covid-19 variant is circulating widely in Florida, prompting concern that a resurgence of the virus is possible in the state and beyond, even as cases and hospitalizations drop dramatically. In Florida, as elsewhere in the U.S., Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped significantly from recent highs, helped by progress in the vaccination campaign. But conditions aren’t improving quite as quickly in the Sunshine State, at least in certain key categories. The per-capita rate of Covid-19 patients currently in Florida hospitals is now about 25% above the national average. And new patients are arriving at its hospital emergency departments at slightly higher rates than the rest of the country. (Levin, 3/8)
Houston Chronicle: More Contagious COVID Variant 'Actively Spreading' In Houston, Health Officials Find
A more contagious variant of the coronavirus is spreading in Houston and the city’s positivity rate crept up last week, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Monday, two days before all state COVID-19 restrictions are lifted across Texas. Last month, city officials who sample sewage for traces of the virus detected the B.1.1.7 variant at 31 of the city’s 39 wastewater treatment plants, up from 21 plants earlier in the month. A study published last Wednesday estimated the variant, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom, is 43 to 90 percent more infectious than previous variants. (Scherer and McGuinness, 3/8)
CIDRAP: Higher Viral RNA Load, Duration Noted With COVID-19 B117 Variant
The COVID-19 variant B117 first identified in the United Kingdom produces higher RNA loads than other strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and its RNA persists for longer, according to a study published last week by the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. The researchers collected nasopharyngeal swabs from December 2020, when B117 was first announced, through February 2021 in Italy's Abruzzo region. Across 313 B117-infected individuals and 2,344 people infected with other COVID-19 strains, viral load was estimated by using threshold cycle (Ct) values that detected the N protein encoding gene and the S gene. Only those with Ct values of 20 or less were considered for the study (the lower the Ct value, the more easily the test was able to detect viral RNA in the sample). (3/8)
Also —
Axios: COVID Tracking Project Officially Ends Daily Updates
The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer group of data analysts, researchers, and journalists brought together by The Atlantic, published its final daily update on Monday — the first anniversary of its founding. The project quickly became a vital resource for news media, academic researchers, and everyday Americans to track COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the absence of reliable and public data from the federal government. (Rummier, 3/8)
Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: One Year Of COVID And How It Has Changed America
A year after the coronavirus abruptly shut down much of the country, Americans are watching for a clear signal of when the pandemic will be over — and most won't be ready to ditch the masks and social distancing until they get it, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. The poll found that more Americans are expecting the outbreak to be over sooner rather than later, as vaccinations ramp up throughout the country — but that very few are ready to end the precautions that have upended their lives. (Nather, 3/9)
