Fall COVID Surge Starting To Overwhelm Hospitals In Some Cities

Politico: Hospitals Search For Enough Beds And Nurses As Virus Rebounds
The coronavirus is engulfing big city hospitals in states including Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana that are running low on nurses and beds and are being forced to set up overflow facilities. With new daily U.S. cases surpassing 62,000 on Thursday, the prospect of swamped intensive care units is prompting some governors who previously resisted public health orders to weigh new restrictions to ease pressure on their health care systems. From the early days of the pandemic, the availability of ICU beds — and hospitals' ability to treat people who need life-support equipment like ventilators to breathe — has been an important benchmark for whether local health systems can handle outbreaks. (Diamond, 10/16)

The New York Times: U.S. ‘Headed In The Wrong Direction’ As A 3rd Peak Nears 
As coronavirus cases across the United States climb toward a third peak, the country surpassed a total of eight million total known cases on Thursday afternoon, according to a New York Times database. Epidemiologists warned of a new, worrisome phase as 17 states are seeing surges unlike anything they experienced earlier in the pandemic. States including Alaska, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin reported more new cases during the seven-day stretch that ended on Wednesday than in any other week since the virus arrived in the country. (10/16)

The Atlantic: Coronavirus Cases And Hospitalizations Are Surging Yet Again
After a month of warning signs, this week’s data make it clear: The third surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is underway. Outbreaks have been worsening in many states for more than a month, and new COVID-19 cases jumped 18 percent this week, bringing the seven-day average to more than 51,000 cases a day. Though testing rose by 8 percent nationally, that’s not enough of an increase to explain the steep rise in cases. Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations, which had previously been creeping upward slowly, jumped more than 14 percent from a week earlier. (10/15)

CNN: The US Is Approaching 8 Million Covid-19 Cases And The Pace Of New Infections Signals A Tough Winter
The US is nearing 8 million Covid-19 cases and averaging more than 50,000 daily new infections -- a sign the country is in for a tough winter, experts say. Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of tropical medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, called the rising average "an ominous sign." "This is the time when we could be entering one of the worst periods of our epidemic and one of our worst periods in modern American public health," he said Thursday. "I'm very worried for the nation." (Maxouris, 10/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Why Covid-19 Is Spreading Again: Fatigue, Colder Weather, Eased Restrictions
A number of factors are likely contributing to the rise, some epidemiologists and public-health researchers said. The virus has spread to more rural counties and other communities, exposing vulnerable populations that hadn’t yet experienced it significantly and who are now reacting instead of taking steps to prevent the virus, public-health researchers said. Some people have grown tired of restrictions on their movements and might be taking more risks than they did in the spring, they said. (Calfas, 10/15)

Also —

ABC News: The Last COVID-Free Counties In America 
The four counties in the United States that haven't reported a single COVID-19 case have some commonalities. They're sparsely populated and geographically isolated. They're solidly middle-class. In two counties, tourism has ground to a sudden halt because of the pandemic. But testing in areas without strong health infrastructure can complicate the picture, experts warn. You can't report COVID-19 cases if you don't test for them, and rural America has historically lacked access to health resources available in more populated areas. (Schumaker and Nichols, 10/16)

CNN: Global Handwashing Day 2020: More Important Than Ever 
Observing Global Handwashing Day has never been more important than during a pandemic that could be stemmed, in part, by everyone taking hand hygiene seriously. Keeping our hands clean is one of the most important habits we can adopt to prevent contracting Covid-19 and spreading the coronavirus that causes the disease to others. Without washing properly and killing off the coronavirus — and other viruses, bacteria and germs we pick up from raw meats, fecal matter and respiratory droplets — it can spread between people and cause disease. (Rogers, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: 1.9 Million Years Of Life Have Been Lost During The Pandemic
COVID-19 has contributed to a significant increase in premature deaths across demographics, which will have a substantial societal impact for years to come, according to new data that attempts to quantify the pandemic's community and economic impact. About 1.9 million years of life have been lost from April to August, which is a 13% increase over the historical average, according to a Health Care Cost Institute analysis that compared obituary and life expectancy data over the past five years to recent data. (Kacik, 10/15)