Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Surge Leaves Ark. With No ICU Beds And La. With Record Deaths
AP: Arkansas Runs Out Of Intensive Care Beds For COVID Patients
Arkansas on Tuesday ran out of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced, as a surge in cases continued overwhelming hospitals in the state. The state’s ICU capacity for COVID patients barely eased hours after Hutchinson’s announcement, with only one hospital in southeast Arkansas showing availability, according to the state’s system for coordinating coronavirus patients. Virus patients make up about half of the state’s ICU beds. The number of virus patients in ICUs and on ventilators reached a new high in the state on Monday. (DeMillo, 8/24)
Axios: Arkansas Governor Says No More ICU Beds Available For COVID-19 Patients
There are no more intensive care unit beds available for coronavirus patients due to a surge in cases driven by the Delta variant, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said during a press conference on Tuesday. It is the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that ICU beds are full in the state, AP reports. The state reached a new record on Monday for the number of coronavirus patients currently on ventilators, according to government data. (Gonzalez, 8/24)
CBS News: Louisiana Reports Record Number Of COVID-19 Deaths
Louisiana reported 139 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday – the state's highest reported number of deaths in a single day since the pandemic began, the Louisiana Department of Health tweeted. The previous record, 129 deaths, was reported on April 14, 2020. "Each death is a terrible loss, even more so because we know most COVID deaths can now be prevented through safe and effective vaccines," Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards tweeted. The state's health department reported 3,814 new cases of the virus Tuesday, noting an increase across all age groups within the state. The largest percentage increase of cases were among those aged 5 to 17. (Powell, 8/24)
The Boston Globe: Mass. Reports 131 Total Breakthrough COVID-19 Deaths As Of Aug. 21, Or 0.003 Percent Of All Fully Vaccinated People
As of last Saturday, 131 people in Massachusetts who had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 had died from the disease, the Department of Public Health reported Tuesday, representing a tiny fraction of all vaccinated people and underscoring the protection the vaccines provide against severe illness and death. The deaths accounted for 0.003 percent of the 4,449,267 people in Massachusetts who were fully vaccinated as of Saturday, the department said in its weekly update on breakthrough COVID-19 metrics. (Kaufman, 8/24)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Cases Force 6,500 LAUSD Students To Miss School
Coronavirus cases resulted in 6,500 students missing one or more days during the first week of school in the Los Angeles Unified School District as officials responded to early results from the largest school-based coronavirus testing effort in the nation. About 3,000 students were in isolation because they tested positive for an infection either during the first week or in the days before the Aug. 16 start of classes. An additional 3,500 were in quarantine after they were identified as close contacts of those who tested positive. (Blume, 8/24)
North Carolina Health News: COVID Surged Through Centers For Residents With Intellectual, Developmental Disabilities
As Christmas 2020 approached, so did a surge of the novel coronavirus that was to bring more than 1,100 cases to North Carolina’s three state-run residential centers for some of North Carolina’s most vulnerable people. Residents and staff at the state-run centers that house people with intellectual and developmental disabilities had seen 367 cases of COVID-19 among staff and residents by early December. But three months later, by the first week of March, the institutions had reported an increase of more than 270 percent. And a higher rate of infection took place at the N.C. centers than at equivalent centers in several other states, according to researchers tracking these outbreaks. (Goldsmith, 8/25)
The Washington Post: Four Members Of Maryland Governor’s Staff Test Positive For Coronavirus
Four members of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s staff have tested positive for the coronavirus, his spokesman Mike Ricci said Tuesday. Hogan (R) and Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford (R) both tested negative, Ricci said, adding that all members of the governor’s staff are fully vaccinated. “While we cannot disclose any personal health information, COVID-19 positive cases have affected multiple members of the governor’s staff,” Ricci said in a statement. “All testing, notification, and quarantining protocols have been followed in accordance with CDC guidance, and contact tracing is underway.” (Chason, 8/25)
In news on the NRA —
Houston Chronicle: NRA Cancels Annual Meeting In Houston Because Of COVID
The National Rifle Association announced it has canceled its annual meeting planned for Houston next weekend because of rising COVID-19 cases in Houston. “We make this difficult decision after analyzing relevant data regarding COVID-19 in Harris County, Texas,” the NRA said in a statement on its website. “We also consulted with medical professionals, local officials, major sponsors and exhibitors, and many NRA members before arriving at this decision.” (Wallace, 8/24)
In news on herd immunity and covid treatments —
CNBC: Covid: 85-90% Of The U.S. Must Be Vaccinated ‘If We’re Going To Get Past This,’ Warns Dr. Peter Hotez
Dr. Peter Hotez warned that rapid spread of the delta coronavirus variant has forced the threshold for the amount of Americans requiring vaccination in order to achieve herd immunity much higher. “We’re now realizing with the variant that’s this transmissible, that we have to get to 85%, maybe, as Tony Fauci said, 90% of the country vaccinated,” said Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. (DeCiccio, 8/24)
KHN: Hot Spots Where Covid Vaccination Lags Push Experimental Antibody Treatment
For months, Joelle Ruppert was among the millions of Americans who are covid vaccine holdouts. Her reluctance, she said, was not so much that she opposed the new vaccines but that she never felt “compelled” by the evidence supporting their experimental use. Nonetheless, after she fell ill with covid last month, Ruppert, a Florida preschool teacher, found herself desperate to try an experimental product that promised to ease her symptoms: infusion with a potent laboratory-produced treatment known as monoclonal antibody therapy. (Aleccia, 8/25)
