Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
COVID Infections Accelerating In Every State. And 42 Are In The Red Zone.
Center For Public Integrity: 42 States Are Now In The Red Zone For Coronavirus Cases, White House Says
All but eight states are now in the red zone for COVID-19 cases, the White House coronavirus task force said in new reports issued Tuesday. The Dakotas and Wisconsin again this week led the nation in cases per capita, with Iowa claiming the fourth slot. The reports, which are not made public by the Trump administration, are sent to governors weekly. The Center for Public Integrity is collecting and publishing them. (Essley White, 11/10)
AP: Texas Becomes 1st State To Surpass 1 Million Covid-19 Cases
Texas health officials say new cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 have hit a new peak. According to the Johns Hopkins website, the state recorded 1,010,364 cases early Wednesday with 19,337 deaths since the pandemic began in early March. Texas recorded 10,865 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, setting a new daily record that surpassed by 74 cases an old mark set July 15, state officials said. (11/11)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Cases Hit Another Record High
The U.S. set another single-day record for coronavirus cases, as the total number of new infections topped 136,000, while hospitalizations due to Covid-19 were at their highest level since the pandemic began. The total number of confirmed cases in the country surpassed 10.2 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as the virus spread widely across the country. (Wen, 11/11)
The Hill: US Sets New Record For COVID-19 Hospitalizations At More Than 60,000
The United States on Tuesday set a new record for coronavirus hospitalizations, with around 62,000 people currently in the hospital with the virus, according to the COVID Tracking Project. The country also set another record for new coronavirus cases, with more than 130,000 in a single day, as case counts continue to climb. (Sullivan, 11/10)
NPR: As Coronavirus Hospitalizations Surge, Which States Are Getting Hit The Worst?
Throughout the U.S., hospitals and health care workers are tracking the skyrocketing number of new coronavirus cases in their communities and bracing for a flood of patients to come in the wake of those infections. Already, seriously ill COVID-19 patients are starting to fill up hospital beds at unsustainable rates. (Ston, 11/10)
Also —
USA Today: COVID-19 Cases Are Rising And This Winter Will Be Worse, Experts Say
Between the cold weather, lax behaviors and the holidays, December and January will be the worst months the United States has seen so far in the COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts said this week. ... Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir warned Americans on Monday to remain vigilant in the coming weeks. "Our nation is in a critical phase of the pandemic," Giroir said. (Weintraub and Alltucker, 11/10)
The Washington Post: With Coronavirus Cases Spiking Nationwide, All Signs Point To A Harrowing Autumn
This is the dismal reality America faces as the coronavirus continues its unchecked surge around the country: In North Dakota, health-care workers with asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus will be allowed to keep working as the number of infected patients outstrips the staff members needed to care for them, the governor said this week. In multiple states, hospital leaders warned that the current spike is straining resources and sidelining the very staffers needed to face growing numbers of sick people. From Maryland to Iowa, local officials have pleaded for tighter restrictions that might help slow the virus’s accelerating spread. (Dennis, Dupree and Iati, 11/10)
The Atlantic: The Worst Day of the Pandemic Since May
The new hospitalization record underscores that we’ve entered the worst period for the pandemic since the original outbreak in the Northeast. Although the number of detected cases was much lower back then because of test shortages, the large number of hospitalizations (and deaths) indicate that there were many more times the number of infections than our then-embryonic and broken testing system could confirm. In the following months, some commentators, including government advisers, have played down the large case counts by saying tests were detecting people who weren’t actually sick—or if they were sick, only mildly sick. (Madrigal and Kissane, 11/10)
