Climbing Hospitalizations Stretch Health Workers, Worry Surgeon General
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says the number of covid cases is "deeply concerning" and that the ceiling on delta-driven cases is unknown. Meanwhile, Politico reports on efforts taxed hospitals and states are taking to retain and attract health personnel.
Fox News:
Surgeon General: COVID-19 Numbers 'Deeply Concerning,' Says Vaccines 'Doing Their Job'
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Sunday called the number of novel coronavirus cases nationwide "deeply concerning," adding that there are more children being hospitalized in the United States with COVID-19 than at any other time during the pandemic as a result of the highly contagious delta variant. More than 151,000 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the U.S. each day – up over 1,000% from June, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 18% of the new transmissions are those involving children, data show. The surge in cases has been driven by the delta variant, Murthy told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." (Pagones, 8/22)
Politico:
Health Worker Crunch Pressures States Battling Delta Variant
Hospitals and lawmakers in states gripped by the Delta variant are offering nurses tens of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses, rewriting job descriptions so paramedics can care for patients and pleading for federal help to beef up their crisis-fatigued health care workforces. The alarming spread of new cases is draining the pool of available health workers in ways not seen since the pandemic’s winter peak, forcing officials to improvise and tear up rules dictating who cares for whom. Governors and hospital directors warn that the staffing crisis is so acute that patients, whether suffering from Covid-19, a heart attack or the effects of a car accident, can no longer expect the level of care that might have been available six weeks ago. (Goldberg and Miranda Ollstein, 8/23)
In news on surges around the US —
Des Moines Register:
Iowa COVID Spread Substantial In All 99 Counties, CDC Recommends Masks
Every person in Iowa, vaccinated or not, should wear a mask when in public indoor spaces because of the level of spread of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends the measure to stem the tide of the disease when there is substantial spread of the virus — 50 or more confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the prior week, or a positive test rate of 8% or greater. At 100 or more new cases per 100,000 people, or 10% or greater positive test rates, spread is considered high. Ten Iowa counties have substantial spread of the COVID-19 causing coronavirus. The other 89 counties have high spread, according to the CDC's data as of Aug. 20. (Coltrain, 8/22)
Bloomberg:
Delta Covid-19 Case Wave In U.S. Northeast May Be Nearing Its Peak
Parts of the U.S. Northeast may be near the peak of the latest Covid-19 wave, though there are still key areas of concern. Hospitalizations and deaths are likely to mount in the weeks to come. Cases in Connecticut and Massachusetts have probably topped out, according to the consensus of forecasts published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet New York and New Jersey still are expected to see infection rates increase. (Levin and Young, 8/20)
The New York Times:
Covid Cases Overwhelm The Gulf Coast, Leaving Region With No I.C.U. Beds.
The Gulf Coast, a tourist haven that draws throngs of revelers to beaches across several Southern states, has been sorely afflicted as the Delta variant tears through the region, which has relatively low rates of vaccination and often lax safety measures. But even compared to other parts of the South that are struggling against the latest wave of the virus, the Gulf Coast stands out like an angry red scar on maps that depict coronavirus hot spots and hospitalizations. (Levin and Slotnik, 8/23)
The Advocate:
'Spreading Like Wildfire': Rural Louisiana, With Lowest Vaccination Rates, Confronts Delta Surge
In Grant Parish, for instance, only 24% of the roughly 22,000 residents are fully vaccinated, the third-lowest rate in the state. And that’s after the region saw a notable recent uptick in vaccinations, prompted by the delta variant’s rapid spread, which took the pandemic to never-before-seen levels of hospitalizations in Louisiana. Louisiana’s vaccination rate is now just under 40%, well above Grant Parish, but well below the U.S. as a whole, where nearly 52% of people are fully vaccinated. (Karlin, 8/23)
USA Today:
COVID Situation In Florida Is A 'Crisis,' And Getting Worse
Florida became the third state in the U.S. to reach 3 million cases of COVID-19, a total surpassed by only 15 countries in the world. Cases in the state fell very slightly this week, with 150,740 compared to 151,764 last week, but deaths were on the rise. The state saw 1,486 deaths this week compared to 1,071 the week before. Florida reported an all-time death record, with 1,486 deaths in the past week – nearly 15% above the previous record of 1,296 deaths in a week of January. Northeast Florida is bearing the brunt of the state's COVID surge, with Baptist Health's five hospitals in the area seeing more than double the number of patients with COVID they saw at the previous peak of the pandemic last summer. (Santucci and Fernando, 8/21)
AP:
Official: Map Showing Low COVID Rates In Nebraska Misleading
Nebraska currently appears relatively safe on some national websites tracking the spread of COVID-19, but state health officials say those maps aren’t accurate. The problem is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been using different data for Nebraska since the state retired its website that reported virus figures daily and started reporting updates weekly with fewer details. So two-thirds of Nebraska’s counties shouldn’t be colored blue on the CDC map, indicating low COVID-19 transmission rates, at a time when cases are surging statewide, the Omaha World-Herald reported. (8/22)
Salt Lake Tribune:
‘Sense Of Betrayal’ — Latter-Day Saint ICU Doctor Laments That More Aren’t Vaccinated
The delta variant of COVID-19 is surging across the country, filling Utah hospitals with mostly unvaccinated patients battling the disease. The new emergency prompted top leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to issue yet another, even more forceful, message last week to members to wear masks and get vaccinated. Dr. Samuel Brown, a Latter-day Saint intensive care unit physician-scientist at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, is witnessing the pandemic’s devastating toll, up close and all too personally. (Fletcher Stack and Noyce, 8/21)
In news on where covid first hit —
Bay Area News Group:
First U.S. COVID Deaths Earlier -- And In Different Places -- Than Previously Thought
In a significant twist that could reshape our understanding of the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, death records now indicate the first COVID-related deaths in California and across the country occurred in January 2020, weeks earlier than originally thought and before officials knew the virus was circulating here. A half dozen death certificates from that month in six different states — California, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin — have been quietly amended to list COVID-19 as a contributing factor, suggesting the virus’s deadly path quickly reached far beyond coastal regions that were the country’s early known hotspots. Up until now, the Feb. 6, 2020, death of San Jose’s Patricia Dowd had been considered the country’s first coronavirus fatality, although where and how she was infected remains unknown. (Blair Rowan and DeRuy, 8/22)
