Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
ER Patients Forced To Wait Hours In Their Cars At Alaska's Biggest Hospital
The New York Times: Alaska E.R. Patients Are Waiting Hours In Vehicles As A Major Hospital Rations Care.
Alaska’s largest hospital announced Tuesday that a relentless coronavirus outbreak driven by the highly contagious Delta virus variant has left emergency room patients waiting hours in their vehicles and forced medical teams to ration care. At Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, the hospital said it was now operating under “crisis standards of care” — procedures put in place to prioritize resources in a way that may leave some patients with substandard care. (Baker, 9/15)
AP: Alaska's Biggest Hospital Begins Rationing Treatment
Alaska’s largest hospital has begun rationing care, saying it has been overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. Providence Alaska Medical Center said Tuesday it will prioritize resources and treatment to those patients who have the potential to benefit the most. Dr. Kristen Solana Walkinshaw is chief of staff at the hospital and says that “we are no longer able to provide the standard of care to each and every patient who needs our help.” (9/15)
California shows signs of improvement —
Los Angeles Times: California Coronavirus Cases Dropping, CDC Says
California’s coronavirus transmission rates are dropping, a hopeful sign amid a summer surge fueled by the Delta variant, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s coronavirus transmission level has fallen from “high” to “substantial,” the second-highest tier as defined by the CDC. As of Tuesday night, California is the only state that has fallen into this category, as has Puerto Rico. The CDC’s scale evaluating coronavirus transmission levels categorizes states as being in one of four tiers: the worst — high — is color-coded as red; followed by substantial (orange), moderate (yellow) and low (blue). (Lin II and Money, 9/14)
San Francisco Chronicle: California Now The Only State That's Advanced Out Of CDC's 'High' COVID Transmission Category
California no longer has “high” community levels of coronavirus transmission, according to data published Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an achievement a top state health official credited to broad vaccination uptake and public compliance with restrictions such as mask-wearing. The state is now the only one in the country to reach the “substantial” tier of the agency’s risk chart, for the first time since the rapid spread of the delta coronavirus variant brought the summer COVID-19 surge, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Tuesday. (Vaziri, 9/14)
In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —
Philadelphia Inquirer: Unvaccinated People Account For 94% Of The New Coronavirus Cases In Pennsylvania This Year, State Health Officials Say
The vast majority of Pennsylvanians who have contracted the coronavirus in 2021 were not vaccinated, state officials said Tuesday, releasing new data on infections they said should persuade all eligible residents to get their shots. Through early September, there have been nearly 640,000 positive cases of COVID-19 across the state, close to 35,000 hospitalizations, and almost 6,500 deaths. But 97% of the deaths were in people who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, according to state data, as were 95% of hospitalizations and 94% of confirmed cases. (McCarthy and McDaniel, 9/14)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Health Experts Remind Public That COVID Numbers Are At January Levels
The state Department of Health Services Tuesday reported more than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths, similar to the numbers reported over the last week or so. At the local level, health experts continue to stress that we are not in the clear. “While we're talking about slight decreases or plateaus in case data, we need to remember that where we’re plateauing is still very, very high in relation to COVID overall,” said Darren Rausch, director of the Greenfield Health Department. (Bentley and Swales, 9/14)
Augusta Chronicle: COVID Virus Mutating Rapidly As Is Spreads Across Augusta
In a month, the number of offshoots from the Delta variant that causes COVID-19 have sprung up rapidly among the largely unvaccinated population in Augusta. It's creating concerns that a different disease than the original infection will arise and could lead to adaptations that evade vaccines and treatments, the director of sequencing laboratory at Augusta University said. The Mu variant, still relatively rare in the U.S. but coursing across South America, is also now present in Augusta. (Corwin, 9/14)
Also —
The Washington Post: Conservative Radio Host Bob Enyart Dies Of Covid After Boycotting Vaccine Over Abortion Claim
For years, Bob Enyart used his conservative media platform in Denver to mock those who died of AIDS by name or call for women who receive abortions to face the death penalty. Recently, the radio talk-show host — who had successfully sued the state over mask mandates and capacity limits in Colorado churches last year — joined a chorus of conservative voices who have bashed the coronavirus vaccine and vowed to stay unvaccinated. In Enyart’s case, he pushed for boycotting vaccination because of the debunked claim that the vaccines were developed using aborted fetal cells. (Bella, 9/14)
Palm Beach Post: COVID Kills 6 Unvaccinated Members Of Palm Beach County Family In 3 Weeks
For months, Lisa Wilson went door to door in Belle Glade, Florida, trying to convince people to get the coronavirus vaccine. Wilson, a longtime aide to Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, persuaded pastors to preach about the need to get shots. Her husband, Belle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson, was one of the first in the western farming community to roll up his sleeve, hoping others would follow his example. But despite Wilson’s insistence that the shots would save lives, some members of her own family ignored her. In the last three weeks, six of them died from complications of COVID-19. (Musgrave, 9/14)
CNN: In Their Mother's Obituary, A Family Says Her Covid-19 Death Could Have Been Prevented If People Were Vaccinated
The day Candace and Terry Ayers received their second Covid-19 vaccination in early March was a day of hope and excitement for the entire family. "I took my parents to get that second jab, and we were all so excited," said their son Marc. "We are a family that believes in science. We believe in masks, and we believe in vaccines. We were ready to get back to normal." But his mother, Candace Ayers, died nearly six months later following a July trip with her husband to Mississippi. Her death certificate says she died of Covid-19. (Simonson, 9/15)
