Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Surging Nationally As 2021 Covid Death Count Passes All Of Last Year
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Covid-19 Deaths In 2021 Surpass 2020’s
The number of U.S. Covid-19 deaths recorded in 2021 has surpassed the toll in 2020, according to federal data and Johns Hopkins University, demonstrating the virus’s persistent menace. The total number of reported deaths linked to the disease topped 770,800 on Saturday, Johns Hopkins data show. This puts the pandemic-long total at more than twice the 385,343 Covid-19 deaths recorded last year, according to the most recent death-certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Kamp, Whelan and DeBarros, 11/21)
Axios: Thanksgiving COVID Alarm As Cases Rise 20%
Coronavirus cases are rising, nationally and in most states — an ominous trend heading into the week of Thanksgiving. Two-thirds of Americans plan to have Thanksgiving gatherings that resemble their pre-pandemic festivities, according to recent Monmouth University polling. But as cases rise, travel and indoor celebrations will put the millions of unvaccinated Americans at risk. (Owens and Beheraj, 11/21)
The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Breakthrough Hospitalizations Concentrated Among Most Vulnerable
Breakthrough cases of Covid-19 are hitting older people and those with underlying health conditions particularly hard, according to a new review of data by The Wall Street Journal that sharpens the picture of who remains at risk despite vaccinations. State reporting is inconsistent but collectively shows there have been more than 1.89 million cases and at least 72,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths among fully vaccinated people in the U.S. this year, the Journal found. (Kamp and Evans, 11/21)
In news across the states —
Des Moines Register: Iowa COVID Cases Surging Again; Thanksgiving Gatherings Worry Experts
Just over a week before Thanksgiving, Dubuque County public health specialist Mary Rose Corrigan stared into a camera for a weekly PSA, and posed a rhetorical — but timely — question: Should people attend indoor, public events without masks or social distancing? Though delivered with a deliberate dose of Iowa nice, her answer for Dubuque residents was unmistakable: “Are you kidding me?” The number of COVID-19 cases in Iowa is again on the rise after a brief dip, as is the case in most neighboring states. In Minnesota, for one example, cases have risen so rapidly that emergency departments are overwhelmed, according to Minnesota Public Radio. (Coltrain, 11/20)
Bangor Daily News: Maine CDC Reports Record COVID-19 Hospitalizations
COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached record numbers once again this month. On Sunday, 287 patients were hospitalized with the virus, according to data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s previous record number of hospitalizations was set on Thursday, when 280 patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Currently, there are 80 patients who are in critical care beds, and 30 patients that are on a ventilator, according to Maine CDC data. (Lausier, 11/21)
The New York Times: Covid-19 Surge Strains Michigan’s Hospitals
The toll on hospitals is compounded by a staffing shortage that is rippling through the state’s health care system and a rise in people seeking medical help for issues not related to Covid-19, health leaders said. Covid-19 hospitalizations in the state are up 46 percent over the last two weeks, according to a New York Times database. The only other state with a higher spike in that time was New Hampshire, where hospitalizations increased 58 percent. Michigan had a higher per capita rate of hospitalizations than all but one state, North Dakota. Covid-19 cases in Michigan are up 78 percent over the last two weeks, according to The Times’s database. Only three states have bigger increases over that time. (Patel, 11/21)
AP: Conn. COVID-19 Rate Is Rising Faster Than Other States
Connecticut is experiencing a more rapid increase in COVID-19 cases than any other state, according to the most recent statistics. The state has averaged 738 daily cases over the last week, which represents a 116% increase over two weeks earlier, the Hartford Courant reported. That’s higher than any other state for the same period. Four of the five states with the highest recent increase in virus cases are in New England, the newspaper reported. (11/22)
AP: COVID-19 Hospitalizations On The Rise In New York
New York is continuing to see an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in November as the holiday season approaches, according to the latest state data released Saturday. Nearly 6,100 people a day are now testing positive for COVID-19 in New York — up 22% from roughly 5,000 for the seven days through Nov. 11. That’s the highest seven-day average since mid-April. (Villeneuve, 11/21)
Politico: VA Stats Show Devastating Covid Toll At Vets’ Nursing Homes
Almost a year after Congress passed a law requiring disclosure of Covid-19 deaths in veterans’ homes, the Department of Veterans Affairs finally began making public how many U.S. veterans got sick and died of the virus in special nursing homes meant to ease their final days. It now reports deaths of 1,498 home residents and 54 staff since late May 2020 at the special State Veterans Homes, which the VA finances and the states operate — and that number is likely to rise because data for some homes in hard-hit states is still missing or under VA review. (Kenen, Tahir and James Vestal, 11/19)
