Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Infections Rising Again In Every State
USA Today: New Infections Rising In Every State, Hospitalizations Boom
The number of new coronavirus infections is now rising in all 50 states and hospitalizations nationwide are increasing at an alarming rate, data out Sunday reveals. New infections rose in all 50 states Saturday, the third consecutive day, data from Johns Hopkins University shows. And more than 25,000 U.S. patients who likely had COVID-19 were in hospitals Saturday, up 24.1% from a week earlier. Throughout the week hospitals admitted 51,378 likely COVID patients, up 15%. And 6,198 adults with COVID-19 were in intensive-care units, up 25.7% from a week earlier. (Culver and Bacon, 7/18)
CIDRAP: US COVID-19 Cases Climb Steadily All Week
Not only did the moving 7-day average of new daily cases increased every day [last] week, but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said that 10% of US counties were recently reclassified as "high transmission risk" areas and 7% moved into the "substantial risk" category. Many of these areas, she added, corresponded with low vaccination rates. (McLernon, 7/16)
The Atlantic: The Delta Variant Is Surging In Missouri
Last week, Katie Towns, the acting director of the Springfield–Greene County Health Department, was concerned that the county’s daily cases were topping 250. On Wednesday, the daily count hit 405. This dramatic surge is the work of the super-contagious Delta variant, which now accounts for 95 percent of Greene County’s new cases, according to Towns. It is spreading easily because people have ditched their masks, crowded into indoor spaces, resumed travel, and resisted vaccinations. Just 40 percent of people in Greene County are fully vaccinated. In some nearby counties, less than 20 percent of people are. (Yong, 7/16)
Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Sequencing Data Show Mississippians Under 40 Make Up 65% Of COVID-19 Delta Variant Cases
Young people people in Mississippi are the most impacted by a rise in COVID-19 Delta variant cases, with those ages 39 and under making up 65% of cases identified through sequencing from late May to early July, according to data from the Mississippi State Department of Health. The Clarion Ledger requested a breakdown of Delta variant cases by age, race, vaccination status and number of long-term care residents affected. (Haselhorst, 7/16)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Average Wisconsin Daily COVID-19 Cases Rise For 10th Consecutive Day
Average new COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin increased for the 10th consecutive day on Friday, according to state Department of Health Services data. The seven-day average of daily cases increased to 149, up 64 cases from a month ago. (Bentley, 7/16)
Houston Chronicle: COVID Infections Are On The Rise Again In Houston. Will There Be Another Surge?
The Harris Health System’s COVID-19 ward was down to just one patient at the beginning of July. Anxious to hit zero COVID-19 patients, Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, the hospital system’s CEO, purchased and stored a bottle of Martinelli’s sparkling grape juice — “fake champagne” — in his refrigerator. If the COVID ward emptied out, he would drive to Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, one of the system’s two medical centers, to celebrate with doctors and nurses. Instead, the numbers went the opposite direction. As of Friday morning, nurses were treating 14 COVID patients at LBJ Hospital. (Wu, 7/16)
Albanyherald.com: Delta Variant Threatens Window Of Herd Immunity Opportunity
There is an ominous undertone, a touch of frustration mixed with the surface optimism, as Scott Steiner and Dr. Eddie Black talk about the emergence of the so-called delta variant of the coronavirus that has emerged as the latest health emergency related to the pandemic that has gripped the world for almost a year and a half.Both talk of a narrow window of opportunity that, because of some people’s reluctance to take vaccinations that have so far proved adept at stopping the spread of the virus, may be closing. (Fletcher, 7/17)
Democratic lawmakers cope with a covid outbreak —
Axios: More Texas Democrats Test Positive For COVID
Two more Texas Democrats who fled their state for D.C. in an effort to block a state GOP voting bill have tested positive for COVID-19, the state House Democratic Caucus said Sunday. The confirmation comes a day after three other Texas state House members tested positive for the virus, despite being fully vaccinated. (Falconer, 7/19)
In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —
The Oregonian: Officials Investigating 14-Person COVID-19 Outbreak In Vancouver Hospital
Health officials are investigating a COVID-19 outbreak in a Vancouver, Washington, hospital in which 10 patients and four employees on a single floor tested positive. Five of the 14 cases in PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center were fully vaccinated, and the patients showing symptoms are unvaccinated, officials said. (7/18)
North Carolina Health News: COVID Adds Challenges For Those Leaving Incarceration
When Jeff Walker came out of incarceration, all he had were the clothes on his back. He was directionless, stigmatized. He didn’t have support. He didn’t have anything. That was five years ago. People leaving jails and prisons and reentering society during the COVID-19 pandemic faced the same stigma, the same lack of direction — all while attempting to navigate a global pandemic. (Thompson, 7/16)
NBC News: Rarely, Covid Vaccine Breakthrough Infections Can Be Severe. Who's At Risk?
Despite the power of Covid-19 vaccines in cutting the risk of hospitalization and death from the disease, fully vaccinated people can get very sick and die from the virus in rare cases. Those individuals tend to be older than 65 or have weakened immune systems or other severe medical conditions, an NBC News survey of health officials nationwide found. "Throughout the pandemic, people who died of Covid-19 were most likely to be older, and that continues to be true with breakthrough cases," a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said in an email. (Edwards and Strickler, 7/19)
CIDRAP: Studies Elucidate Poorly Understood Long COVID
Three new studies detail "long-haul" COVID-19, one finding 203 symptoms involving 10 organ systems, another showing that more than five coronavirus symptoms in the first week of infection portends a long disease course, and one finding few long-haul–like symptoms in children. (Van Beusekom, 7/16)
