Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Confirms 4 In Michigan Got Covid From Mink In First 'Spillover' Event
National Geographic: Government Documents Reveal CDC Delayed Disclosing Likely COVID-19 Animal Spillover Event
A trove of government documents obtained by National Geographic provides the first behind-the-scenes look at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) investigation into a suspected COVID-19 animal-to-human spillover event in Michigan in late 2020. The documents, and the agency’s statements in response to them, make clear the CDC was aware that mink on a fur farm may have infected humans at least three months before it quietly updated its website in March 2021. (Maron, 4/5)
The New York Times: Four Americans Were Infected With A Virus Variant Seen In Mink
In the first year of the pandemic, at least four people in Michigan were infected with a version of the coronavirus observed mostly in mink, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Monday. The cluster, which previously included just three cases, represents the first known instance of possible animal-to-human transmission of the virus in the United States. (Anthes, 4/18)
In other news about the spread of covid —
CNBC: Leaving Covid Safety To Personal Choice Will 'Come Back To Bite Us,' Ex-Obama Health Official Says
A former Obama health policy director on Monday criticized what she sees as a potentially dangerous shift in government messaging on Covid safety protocols. “My biggest issue with the it’s-your-call kind of theme that’s out there [is] we don’t do this in any other area of illness, health, or disease or burden. I don’t tell a patient with high LDL cholesterol, ‘Hey, you go figure out what your 10-year cardiovascular risk is, and you can decide,’” Dr. Kavita Patel said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “Of course, they are able to decide what their options are after I talk to them about what I think is best,” added Patel, a primary care physician in the Washington, D.C. area. (Hur, 4/18)
The Boston Globe: Pandemic’s Lesson For Many Older Folks: Stay In Your Home As Long As You Can
For many older Americans and their families, the devastating COVID-19 outbreak — which caused more than 200,000 deaths in nursing homes nationally — was a persuasive argument for living at home as long as possible. Now, as the pandemic grinds into its third year, a loose-knit band of tech gurus, gerontology researchers, and volunteer-powered elder support groups, called “villages,” is seeking to overcome the obstacles to aging in place. Among the toughest: a worsening shortage of home care workers, who can assist the oldest residents with walking, dressing, or showering. Coronavirus sped up the deployment of “age-tech,” technology that helps older people age in place, by seven to 10 years, said Joe Coughlin, director of MIT AgeLab in Cambridge. (Weisman, 4/18)
San Francisco Chronicle: Does It Feel Like Everyone Has COVID? Why Some Experts Say S.F. May Be In A Surge Now Even Though Cases Are Low
Peter Chin-Hong doesn’t normally like relying on anecdotal evidence. But in the last few weeks, he said, it has become harder to ignore what feels like an undercounted coronavirus surge in San Francisco. “There’s been so many people getting COVID,” Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, told The Chronicle. “The amount of people and outbreaks I've been hearing about are not in sync with the official numbers.” While San Francisco’s case counts are showing an increase as the omicron BA.2 subvariant spreads across the U.S., Chin-Hong said that he and other researchers do not believe current case rates reflect the scale of the increase, in part because fewer people are getting tested than before. (Neilson, 4/19)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Health Experts Monitor New Subvariant As COVID Cases Rise In St. Louis
Health experts here are worried by rising COVID-19 rates in other parts of the U.S. and are monitoring a new highly contagious strain of the virus, which has now been detected in the St. Louis area. For over a month, local experts have been watching warily as parts of Europe and Asia have been hit with overwhelming surges of COVID-19. Since late March, cases have been rising in the northeastern United States. On Monday, a renewed mask requirement took effect in Philadelphia in response to a swift rise in cases. The Illinois state health department on Thursday issued a warning that COVID-19 case rates are “slowly rising in many areas of the state.” The department advised residents to pay close attention to their local case rates, and, if they are in an area with rising infections, wear a mask in indoor spaces and consider avoiding large gatherings. (Merrilees, 4/19)
AP: Agencies Monitoring Hawaii Wastewater For COVID-19
Federal authorities have begun monitoring Hawaii wastewater for COVID-19, while the state expects its own monitoring program to be fully operational this summer, officials said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been testing in the islands as part of its National Wastewater Surveillance System, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. (4/18)
In updates on vaccines and treatments —
CIDRAP: Extending Time Between MRNA COVID Vaccine Doses May Boost Efficacy
COVID-19 mRNA vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection was 5% to 7% higher when the two primary doses were given at least 7 weeks rather than 3 to 5 weeks apart, according to an observational study of hospital and community healthcare workers (HCWs) in British Columbia published late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. ... After adjustment, mRNA VE against infection was 71% for one dose at a median of 7 weeks and 90% for two doses at 13 weeks. Seven months after the second dose, VE was still greater than 80%. Two-dose VE was consistently 5% to 7% higher when given at least 7 weeks apart than after a 3- to 5-week interval. (4/18)
KHN: Why Cheap, Older Drugs That Might Treat Covid Never Get Out Of The Lab
In March 2020, Dr. Joseph Vinetz left the contemplative world of his Yale University infectious-disease laboratory and plunged into the covid ward at Yale New Haven Hospital, joining an army of health care workers who struggled to treat the deadly viral disease. There were no drugs against covid-19, and no way to predict which infected patients would develop pneumonia or fall into an inflammatory tailspin leading to severe illness or death. In desperation, Vinetz and countless other doctor-scientists trawled the literature for existing medicines that might help. (Allen, 4/19)
NPR: There Are Lessons For COVID In The U.S.'s Lingering Battle With HIV
HIV and SARS-CoV-2 are completely different viruses. They spread and make people sick in completely different ways. But in 2020, when COVID-19 started to spread, Stephanie Brooks-Wiggins says, it felt familiar. "Everywhere you went, people just seemed to be getting sick," she says. Through the pandemic, she lost five family members to COVID-19. "I lost my son-in-law. I lost my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law. They all died within months of each other." Back in 1986, when she was diagnosed with HIV, it felt the same way. "There were people dropping like flies – people were dying," she says. (Simmons-Duffin, 4/19)
And more on covid prevention —
The Baltimore Sun: Howard County Teen Creates Award-Winning COVID-19 Protective Kit For Teachers
Arthur Wang, 17, realized the severity of COVID-19 months before most of his classmates when he got updates about the then novel virus from his uncle, who is a doctor in China. It inspired the Columbia resident to come up with an effort to better support teachers and other workers in Howard County, where he is a junior at River Hill High School, and beyond. “We wanted to help the community,” he explained. “I realized how hard it was for the teachers to switch from virtual to in-person classes. Some teachers said it was like flying a plane with no direction.” (Williams IV, 4/19)
KHN: Better Ventilation Can Prevent Covid Spread. But Are Companies Paying Attention?
Americans are abandoning their masks. They’re done with physical distancing. And, let’s face it, some people are just never going to get vaccinated. Yet a lot can still be done to prevent covid infections and curb the pandemic. A growing coalition of epidemiologists and aerosol scientists say that improved ventilation could be a powerful tool against the coronavirus — if businesses are willing to invest the money. (Szabo, 4/19)
