Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Needs To Pick Up The Pace On Covid Messaging, Health Experts Say
Stat: CDC’S Slow, Cautious Messaging On Covid-19 Seems Out Of Step With The Moment, Public Health Experts Say
Nearly a year ago, amid concerns about how to prevent transmission of the virus causing Covid-19, scientists were beginning to conclude that rigorous disinfection of surfaces — say, fogging them or deep-cleaning with bleach — was overkill. Academics were warning that the risk of so-called fomite transmission was wildly overblown. In the fall, research from Israel and Italy found that the virus couldn’t even be cultured from surfaces in hospital infectious disease units. By February of this year, the editorial board of Nature was openly urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its guidelines. The CDC did so — last month. (Florko, 5/11)
Los Angeles Times: COVID Vaccines Hold Their Own Against Coronavirus Variants
Confidence is growing that COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are holding their own against the coronavirus variants now in circulation. “Everything we’ve seen with the variants should provide marked reassurance, as far as the protection that is afforded by vaccines — particularly the vaccines that we have in the United States,” said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla. The upbeat view is accompanied by a growing sense that California is emerging from the worst of the pandemic. For weeks, California has reported one of the lowest per-capita daily coronavirus case counts of any state in the U.S. (Lin II, 5/10)
The Wall Street Journal: New Reported U.S. Cases Under 40,000 For Third Day
Newly reported coronavirus cases in the U.S. stayed under 40,000 for the third consecutive day, as Covid-19 vaccinations appeared set to be expanded to younger people. The U.S. reported more than 35,000 new cases for Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University that was published early Tuesday. Monday’s figure was lower than the week-earlier tally of 50,560 but was up from Sunday’s total of 21,392, though about a third of states don’t report new cases or deaths on the weekends. (Hall, 5/11)
WUSF 89.7: Florida COVID Positivity Rate Over 5% For First Time In Three Days
The positivity rate for new cases of COVID-19 jumped to more than 5 percent Sunday for the first time in three days. The rate, 5.3 percent, was the highest positivity rate in nearly a week. The rate was 4.67% on Saturday, the lowest since October. Keeping the rate low is considered a good indicator of whether the number of new cases is slowing down. (Newborn, 5/10)
And in covid research news —
CIDRAP: Ibuprofen, Other NSAIDs Not Tied To Worse COVID Illness, Death
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen don't worsen illness or cause death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a new study involving more than 72,000 people in the United Kingdom suggests. (Van Beusekom, 5/10)
CIDRAP: Mild COVID-19 Not Associated With Heart Damage, Study Says
Mild COVID-19 infection was not linked to longer-term heart damage, according to a JACC Cardiovascular Imaging study late last week. University College London researchers matched 74 SARS-CoV-2–seropositive and 75 seronegative healthcare workers, comparing cardiovascular health (6 months post-diagnosis for the COVID group). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging and blood tests showed no difference between groups regarding inflammation, scarring, aortic stiffness, serum biomarkers, or the left ventricle size, muscle mass, or ability. (5/10)
CIDRAP: Cardiovascular Function Linked With COVID-19 Mortality Risk
Impaired phase 1 ejection fraction (EF1) —an indicator of potential heart damage—is associated with almost a fivefold increased COVID-19 mortality risk, according to a study published in Hypertension today. (5/10)
Reuters: Non-Hospitalised COVID Patients Have Low Risk Of Serious Long-Term Effects -Study
Non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients have a low risk of serious long-term effects, but they report more visits to general practitioners following infection, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. "The absolute risk of severe post-acute complications after SARS-CoV-2 infection not requiring hospital admission is low. However, increases in visits to general practitioners and outpatient hospital visits could indicate COVID-19 sequelae," the study found. (5/10)
