Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Transitioning From Daily To Weekly Covid Cases Reporting
The Hill: CDC To Stop Reporting Daily COVID-19 Cases, Moving To Weekly Reports
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will stop reporting daily COVID-19 cases later this month and switch to weekly reports after more than two years of near constant daily updates. In an update regarding its coronavirus data and surveillance, the CDC said it was transitioning from daily to weekly reports to allow for more “flexibility” and to reduce the burden on state and local governments. The change in case reporting will take place on Oct. 20. (Choi, 10/6)
San Francisco Chronicle: Masking Recommendation For School Nurses’ Offices Quietly Dropped By CDC
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its masking guidance for K-12 schools, updating a portion that previously said the agency “recommends masking at all times in healthcare settings, including school nurses’ offices, regardless of the current COVID-19 Community Level.” (Vaziri, 10/6)
More on the spread of covid —
CIDRAP: Omicron Infection More Effective Than Earlier Variants Against BA.4/BA.5 Reinfection
Infection with a pre-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant offered 35.5% protection against symptomatic Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 reinfection, while an Omicron infection was 76.2% protective, according to a Qatari test-negative, case-control study published yesterday in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 10/6)
San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area COVID Cases Level Off, California Numbers Hit A Plateau
After a precipitous drop over the past two months, California’s COVID-19 trends have hit a plateau. The state reported an average of 3,336 cases a day as of Thursday, only a 5% decrease from the previous week’s numbers, according to health department data. (Vaziri, 10/6)
Bloomberg: Health Workers Swamped With Angry Calls Over Stew Peters Covid Care Claim
In January, the staff of Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, was flooded with tens of thousands of angry phone calls, all with the same concern. Calling in from as far away as Australia, the people were worried that an unvaccinated Covid-19 patient was getting a lower level of care, and wanted to ensure he would be transferred elsewhere. (Carman and Alba, 10/6)
On the spread of flu and RSV —
USA Today: Flu, COVID, RSV: Children Are Getting Sick With Winter Viruses
“We are continuing to see a very high number of sick children with various respiratory problems,” said Dr. Stan Spinner, vice president and chief medical officer of Texas Children’s Pediatrics and Texas Children’s Urgent Care in Houston. “It was already pretty high before school started, but it has clearly gotten worse and faster than it typically takes.” (Rodriguez, 10/6)
