Hospitalizations Down As Omicron’s Grip Starts To Exhaust

AP: US Virus Cases, Hospitalizations Continue Steady Decline
Average daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to fall in the U.S., an indicator that the omicron variant’s hold is weakening across the country. Total confirmed cases reported Saturday barely exceeded 100,000, a sharp downturn from around 800,850 five weeks ago on Jan. 16, according to Johns Hopkins University data. In New York, the number of cases went down by more than 50% over the last two weeks. “I think what’s influencing the decline, of course, is that omicron is starting to run out of people to infect,” said Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and infectious disease chief at the University of Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. (Willingham and Mattise, 2/20)

AP: Nebraska Virus Cases And Hospitalizations Continue Falling
The number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continues falling across Nebraska in the wake of last month’s spike in cases. The state said 387 people were hospitalized with the virus Sunday, which is up slightly over the past couple days, but generally that number has been falling since peaking at 767 on Jan. 28. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska fell over the past two weeks from 1,490.71 new cases per day on Feb. 5 to 277.14 new cases per day on Saturday. From mid January until Jan. 26, that number was regularly above 4,000 during the peak of the surge of the omicron variant of the virus. (2/21)

Milkwaukee Journal Sentinel: Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 In Wisconsin Drop Below 700
It's been 40 days since the Wisconsin Hospital Association reported a record high 2,278 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state. Since then, hospitalization totals have been falling fast as the pandemic recedes. On Monday, the WHA reported that for the first time since last summer, the number of patients hospitalized with the virus in the state dropped below 700 patients. In addition, the WHA reported another decline in intensive care patients. (2/21)

The Augusta Chronicle: Augusta Hospitals Seeking Normal But CDC Wary Of Changing Mask Stance
Doctors Hospital of Augusta hit a welcome milestone last week – there was a day when no new COVID-19 patients were admitted, the first time in nearly two months. As COVID-19 patients slowly leave Augusta hospitals and fewer show up with new infections, hospitals are getting back to more normal operations. Doctors had not seen a day with no new COVID-19 patients since Dec. 22, spokesman Kaden Jacobs said. University Hospital had 66 COVID inpatients, a level it had not reached since Dec. 29, according to spokeswoman Rebecca Sylvester. AU Medical Center had 66 on Thursday morning but even that is deceiving because 37 would be considered "cleared" or no longer infectious, and many are simply waiting to go to another facility, said Chief Medical Officer Phillip Coule. (Corwin, 2/21)

On covid in hospitals —

Politico: Nowhere Is Safe: Record Number Of Patients Contracted Covid In The Hospital In January
More than 3,000 hospitalized patients each week in January had caught Covid sometime during their stay, more than any point of the pandemic, according to U.S. government data analyzed by POLITICO. The record surge demonstrates the virulence of the Omicron variant and how even hospitals, where infection control is paramount, provided little refuge. “Any level of hospital transmission is concerning,” said Aaron Milstone, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who focuses on the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. “The data suggests that hospitals should review their practices and make sure they are doing everything they can to protect patients.” (Levy and James Vestal, 2/19)

The ongoing threat to people who are immunocompromised —

KHN: Covid Still Threatens Millions Of Americans. Why Are We So Eager To Move On?
Iesha White is so fed up with the U.S. response to covid-19 that she’s seriously considering moving to Europe. “I’m that disgusted. The lack of care for each other, to me, it’s too much,” said White, 30, of Los Angeles. She has multiple sclerosis and takes a medicine that suppresses her immune system. “As a Black disabled person, I feel like nobody gives a [expletive] about me or my safety.” (Knight, 2/22)

The Hill: Fox's Neil Cavuto Returns To Air, Says He Was In ICU With COVID-19
Fox News and Fox Business Network host Neil Cavuto returned to the air on Monday and revealed he had been in an intensive care unit while battling pneumonia and the coronavirus. "I did get COVID again but a far, far more serious strand, what doctors call COVID pneumonia," Cavuto said. "It landed me in intensive care for quite a while and it really was touch-and-go. Some of you who’ve wanted to put me out of my misery darn near got what you wished for! So, sorry to disappoint you!" The host said his "very compromised immune system" caused him to contract the coronavirus more than once. (Mastrangelo, 2/22)

Even as cases fall, access to covid pills is a concern —

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Pill Access At Risk As Pharmacies Push For Bigger Payments
The rollout of new Covid-19 pills has exposed a potentially costly hole in how the government and healthcare companies are managing the pandemic drug response. Pharmacies that dispense the pills are pushing back and some are threatening to halt supplies if they don’t get more funds to cover the gap. The government paid billions of dollars for the pills, Paxlovid from Pfizer Inc. and molnupiravir from Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP. Yet it left the details of how much pharmacists should be paid for filling prescriptions to health insurers and prescription-processing middlemen known as pharmacy-benefit managers. (Hopkins, 2/20)