Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Deaths Near 300,000 As Hospitalizations Hit Record High
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Live Updates: U.S. Hospitalizations Hit Record, Doubling In Five Weeks
The U.S. neared 300,000 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday, as virus vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE started shipping across the country. Johns Hopkins data showed 299,057 had died from the virus, while Covid-19 cases in the country exceeded 16 million, and hospitalizations hit a record high. (12/13)
The Hill: COVID-19 Infections Spread Rapidly As Officials Race To Distribute Vaccine
The number of coronavirus infections is spreading at an alarming rate across the nation as the U.S. government gears up to distribute its first rounds of an approved coronavirus vaccine. The United States added 1 million coronavirus infections in just four days, bringing the cumulative total of cases to over 16 million on Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The country has recorded over 215,000 cases each day since Tuesday, Dec. 8. (Williams, 12/12)
AP: Task Force Recommends Stricter Virus Measures For Florida
A White House Coronavirus Task Force report for Florida recommended stricter measures for stopping the virus including mask wearing at all times in public, increased physical distancing by reducing capacity or closing indoor spaces at restaurants and bars and limiting gatherings outside of immediate households. The Dec. 6 report obtained by the Center for Public Integrity also urged leaders to begin warning about the risks of gathering during the December holiday season. (12/12)
In related news —
The New York Times: The 2020 Death Toll Is Higher Than Normal, And It’s Not All Covid-19
The year 2020 has been abnormal for mortalities. At least 356,000 more people in the United States have died than usual since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the country in the spring. But not all of these deaths have been directly linked to Covid-19.More than a quarter of deaths above normal have been from other causes, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure and pneumonia, according to a New York Times analysis of estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Lu, 12/13)
CNN: What Not To Do Now That A Covid-19 Vaccine Has Arrived
The country's first Covid-19 vaccines could be administered as soon as Monday, after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine received green lights from the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention... But the pandemic isn't over yet. Here are three things you shouldn't do until things are under control. (Andone, 12/14)
The New York Times: As U.S. Deaths Approach 300,000, Obituaries Force Reckoning With Covid
When Kim Miller sat down in her Illinois house to compose her husband’s obituary, she could not hold back. Not about the coronavirus that had left Scott, her fit, healthy spouse who loved to swim, golf and putter in the garden, gasping for breath and unable to move his limbs as he stood at the kitchen counter. Not about what had killed him swiftly and cruelly in only a few days. “This disease is real, it is serious and it is deadly,” she wrote in his obituary. “Wear the mask, socially distance, if not for yourself then for others who may lose a loved one to the disease.” (Bosman, 12/13)
