Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospitalizations For Covid Are The Highest Ever
NPR: U.S. COVID Hospitalizations Hit Record High
The omicron-driven surge has sent COVID-19 hospitalizations skyrocketing across the U.S., reaching a new pandemic high this week with 145,982 patients hospitalized. This exceeds the previous high recorded in January last year, according to data tracked by the Department of Health and Human Services, from more than 5,400 hospitals in the country. Patients with COVID now fill about 30% of ICU beds in the nation and pediatric COVID hospitalizations are also at the highest rate of the pandemic. (Stone and Feibel, 1/11)
The New York Times: California Hospitals Find Omicron Causes Fewer Hospitalizations, Shorter Stays
A new study of nearly 70,000 Covid patients in California demonstrates that Omicron causes less severe disease than other coronavirus variants. The new research, posted online Tuesday, aligns with similar findings from South Africa, Britain and Denmark, as well as a host of experiments on animals. Compared with Delta, Omicron infections were half as likely to send people to the hospital. Out of more than 52,000 Omicron patients identified from electronic medical records of Kaiser Permanente of Southern California, a large health system, Dr. Lewnard and his colleagues found that not a single patient went on a ventilator during that time. (Zimmer, 1/11)
And more on struggling hospitals —
Salt Lake Tribune: With A Record 9,813 New COVID-19 Cases, Utah Is Limiting Eligibility For Monoclonal Antibody Treatments
Amid record numbers of new COVID-19 cases, Utah health officials on Tuesday drastically limited eligibility requirements to access the state’s dwindling supply of monoclonal antibody treatments and other antiviral drugs that are used to treat patients after they’ve been infected. Given the “extreme scarcity of COVID-19 treatments” due to the rapidly spreading omicron variant, “we are re-evaluating” the risk level a patient needs to qualify for the popular treatments, the Utah Department of Health announced Tuesday in a news statement. A record 9,813 new coronavirus cases were reported in Utah in the past day, the health department announced Tuesday. (Alberty, 1/11)
Mississippi Clarion Ledger: COVID Omicron Variant Crushing Mississippi's Hospital Bed Availability
The newest surge of COVID-19, accelerated by the omicron variant, is again robbing Mississippi hospitals of space and staff, leaving the state's health care systems overwhelmed. "We are dealing with a shifty enemy. It's changing the rules of the game on us," said Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, during a Tuesday morning press conference. "Some of the lessons we've learned in previous waves are not applicable to the one that we're in." (Haselhorst, 1/11)
Bay Area News Group: Hospitals Push Santa Clara County To Allow Exceptions To COVID Booster Mandate
Santa Clara County is backing off from its no-exceptions stance in requiring health care workers and others in high-risk settings to get booster shots after hospitals complained such a mandate would further strain staffs already under immense pressure because of the rampant omicron variant. The county decided Monday to set up a waiver process to allow unvaccinated or non-boosted workers in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, jails and other congregate places to remain in their current positions. The county announced on Dec. 28 it was not going to allow any religious or medical exemptions for the 150,000 people affected by the order. The unvaccinated among them who refused to get shots be reassigned to lower-risk settings after Jan. 24 under the older. (Greschler, 1/11)
Becker's Hospital Review: Texas Hospital Offering $20K Sign-On Bonus
Corpus Christi (Texas)-based Christus Spohn Health System is offering up to $20,000 sign-on bonuses at a nurse recruiting event Jan. 12. The event will be held at its Shoreline Hospital. The hospital is seeking dozens of nurses, ranging from new graduates to experienced nurses. The sign-on bonus amount will vary based on experience, the system said. (Carbajal, 1/11)
To help hospitals, more places enact public health emergencies —
Philadelphia Inquirer: N.J. Gov. Murphy Again Declares Public-Health Emergency To Prevent Measures To Combat Pandemic From Lapsing
“This step does not mean any new restrictions,” Murphy said on Twitter. “It simply allows state government to continue to respond to the ongoing threat that COVID-19 poses to our daily lives,” Murphy said. Murphy declared a public-health emergency in March 2020 and continued to renew the declarations through executive orders until June 2021, when he cited progress against the pandemic and allowed the emergency to end. Murphy and the state legislature worked out a deal for some measures to stay in place until today, when they were set to expire. (Moran, 1/11)
The Washington Post: D.C. Mayor Reinstates Public Health Emergency To Aid Hospitals As Coronavirus Cases Surge
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) on Tuesday imposed a public health emergency in the District until late January, an action that allows hospitals to address staffing needs and other concerns as hospitalizations rise throughout the region. (Brice-Saddler, 1/11)
