Child Covid Hospitalizations Surge In Michigan

NBC News: In Michigan, A Record-Breaking Number Of Children Have Been Hospitalized With Covid
Among the many alarming consequences of Michigan’s recent Covid-19 surge is one that has doctors particularly concerned: a record-breaking spike in child hospitalizations. Data from the Michigan Health & Hospital Association shows that the number of children hospitalized with severe Covid-19 symptoms hit a high of 70 this week — twice as many as were hospitalized during the worst days of the wave that swept the state in November. (Einhorn, 4/22)

KHN: Michigan’s Outbreak Worries Scientists. Will Conservative Outposts Keep Pandemic Rolling?
When Kathryn Watkins goes shopping these days, she doesn’t bring her three young children. There are just too many people not wearing masks in her southern Michigan town of Hillsdale. At some stores, “not even the employees are wearing them anymore,” said Watkins, who estimates about 30% of shoppers wear masks, down from around 70% earlier in the pandemic. “There’s a complete disregard for the very real fact that they could wind up infecting someone.” Her state tops the nation by far in the rate of new covid cases, a sharp upward trajectory that has more than two dozen hospitals in the state nearing 90% capacity. The nation is watching. (Appleby, 4/23)

Axios: Washington State Enters 4th COVID-19 Surge, Says Governor
Washington state has entered its fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced during a press conference on Thursday. Why it matters: Washington — like other states such as Michigan — is experiencing a surge in COVID cases driven largely by variants of the virus, predominantly the one first discovered in the U.K. What they're saying: "The virus is not done with us," warned Inslee. (Saric, 4/22)

Bloomberg: New York State Surpasses 2 Million Covid-19 Cases
New York state surpassed 2 million recorded Covid-19 cases, crossing a milestone for the pandemic in the state where the disease hit hard a year ago and became a worldwide center of infection. As of April 21, New York reported 2,012,806 cases. That puts it third behind Texas, with 2.9 million, and California with more than 3.7 million reported cases, according to Bloomberg data. (Goldman, 4/22)

Some states are seeing progress —

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Cases Of COVID-19 Have Hit ‘A Clear Plateau,’ Gov. Spencer Cox Says, Stalling Their Decline
Utah’s number of new cases of COVID-19 fell back below 500 on Thursday, and the seven-day rolling average of new cases has gone down in the last month. But that decline has stalled in the last two weeks, at between 375 and 406 cases per day — about the level the state was seeing last August, before the surge in cases in fall and winter. “We’re in a plateau right now, a clear plateau,” Gov. Spencer Cox said Thursday at his weekly COVID-19 briefing. Cox noted that the state’s case counts for three of the last four days were slightly higher than the week before. Still, that plateau “is really good news,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn, because things could be worse. (Means and Pierce, 4/22)

The Boston Globe: Encouraging Signs Are Beginning To Emerge In Mass. And R.I. Coronavirus Data. Still, Experts Urge Caution
In Boston, COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to decline as mobile vaccination teams fan out across the city. Statewide, the seven-day average of deaths recently dipped to the lowest level since the early days of the pandemic. In Rhode Island, where one-third of the population has been vaccinated, the governor announced that capacity limits on businesses will be gone by Memorial Day, heralding the promise of a resurgent summer. (Andersen, Finucane and Gagosz, 4/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Rates In Los Angeles Have Gone From Worst To Among The Best 
At the start of the year here, hospitals were full, restaurants were empty, and three times more Covid-19 cases were being reported every day than in any other U.S. county. Now Los Angeles County has one of the lowest rates of infection per capita of the nation’s 10 most populous counties. Restaurants are packed, hospitals have open beds, and researchers are studying possible reasons for one of the pandemic’s biggest turnarounds, which has occurred despite vaccination rates lower than the national average. Their theories include high immunity caused by previous spikes and a common variant in California that may be keeping out more infectious strains. (Ansari and Lovett, 4/22)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Fox News: COVID-19 Antibodies Found In Dogs In Washington State, Officials Say
More than a dozen dogs in Washington state have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, indicating they were once exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes a COVID-19 infection. Some 23 dogs tested as part of a study by the University of Washington were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, marking the first instance among pets in the state, officials with the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) said in a news release. (Farber, 4/22)

The Washington Post: First Covid-19 Cases Reported Among Climbers At Everest Base Camp 
When Nepal welcomed foreign climbers back to Mount Everest for the spring climbing season, many feared it was only a matter of time before the coronavirus made its way to the world’s highest peak. Sure enough, just weeks into the season, symptoms of the virus have been found at Everest’s base camp, sparking a renewed debate about whether Nepal’s reliance on the mountain as a source of revenue is getting in the way of safety. On Wednesday, Outside magazine first reported a climber at base camp had been evacuated by helicopter for what was believed to be high-altitude pulmonary edema and tested positive for the coronavirus upon arriving at a hospital in Kathmandu last week. The New York Times subsequently revealed that in fact there had been multiple climbers who tested positive after being flown out of base camp. (Farzan, 4/22)