Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Variants Could Linger, Evolve In Deer Population: Study
The New York Times: Deer Could Be A Reservoir Of Old Coronavirus Variants, Study Suggests
The Alpha and Gamma variants of the coronavirus continued to circulate and evolve in white-tailed deer, even after they stopped spreading widely among people, a new study suggests. Whether the variants are still circulating in deer remains unknown. “That’s the big question,” said Dr. Diego Diel, a virologist at Cornell University and an author of the study, which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday. (Anthes, 1/31)
More on the spread of covid —
CIDRAP: Twice-Weekly Rapid COVID Tests May Be Better Than Infrequent PCR
A study today in BMJ Open involving the Japan Professional Football League suggests that frequent COVID-19 rapid antigen testing (RAT) can better detect positive SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infections than infrequent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, despite the latter's higher sensitivity. (Van Beusekom, 1/31)
KHN: Watch: Covid Increases Risk Of Heart Problems, New Data Underlines
Céline Gounder, KHN’s editor-at-large for public health, discusses new data showing an excess of deaths in 2020 related to heart disease. The deaths — from heart attack and heart failure — show that the virus can affect the heart and that cardiac problems can show up months after an initial covid-19 infection has apparently resolved. Vaccines reduce the risk both of serious infections and subsequent heart problems. (2/1)
San Francisco Chronicle: COVID In California: Sonoma County Records Its First 2023 Virus Deaths
Sonoma County health officials reported three COVID-19 deaths this week, the first fatalities reported in the region in 2023. The county has now tallied a total of 535 deaths since the start of the pandemic three years ago, but the new January numbers are far lower than the 68 lives lost in January 2021 and 39 in January 2022. Health officials told The Press Democrat that the official death toll for this year may increase as the reporting of COVID-19 deaths often lags by several weeks. (Vaziri, 1/31)
Los Angeles Times: Who Is Still Most Likely To Die Of COVID In L.A. County?
Over the 30-day period ending Jan. 3, which covers the bulk of the post-Thanksgiving coronavirus surge, the death rate among unvaccinated Angelenos was 16.6 per 100,000 residents, according to an analysis by the county Department of Public Health. Among those who had received an updated bivalent booster, the comparable rate was significantly lower: 2.3 deaths per 100,000 residents. (Money and Lin II, 1/31)
Houston Chronicle: Houston Doctor's $25M Lawsuit Against Methodist Hospital Dismissed
A state district judge has dismissed Dr. Mary Talley Bowden’s defamation lawsuit against Houston Methodist Hospital, ending, at least for now, a months-long legal feud over whether the hospital damaged her reputation by publicly denouncing her social media comments about COVID-19 as misinformation. (Gill, 1/31)
Also —
The New York Times: Students Lost One-Third Of A School Year To Pandemic, Study Finds
Children experienced learning deficits during the Covid pandemic that amounted to about one-third of a school year’s worth of knowledge and skills, according to a new global analysis, and had not recovered from those losses more than two years later. Learning delays and regressions were most severe in developing countries and among students from low-income backgrounds, researchers said, worsening existing disparities and threatening to follow children into higher education and the work force. (Baumgaertner, 1/30)
