Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nearly 2,900 Migrant Minors Test Positive For Coronavirus Over One Year
Axios: Hundreds Of Migrant Kids With Positive COVID-19 Tests Held In Shelters
Nearly 2,900 unaccompanied minors tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival at U.S. government shelters over the past year — including around 300 currently in the system — a Department of Health and Human Services official tells Axios. The numbers highlight the staggering challenges in trying to manage a child migration crisis during a pandemic, while weighing human rights and child welfare concerns against immigration laws. (Kight, 3/24)
In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —
Roll Call: Fauci: US May ‘Turn The Corner’ On Virus, But Spring Break Poses Big Risks
White House officials expressed optimism Wednesday about the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations while also voicing worries that partying on spring break at sunny tourist destinations could fuel outbreaks. “I’m often asked, ‘Are we turning the corner?’ My response is really more like, ‘We are at the corner. Whether or not we turn the corner remains to be seen,” White House senior medical adviser Anthony Fauci said at a press briefing. “We do have a lot of challenges in front of us with regard to the high level of daily infections.” (Kopp, 3/24)
The Hill: US Records Over 30M Coronavirus Cases Amid Vaccination Effort
The U.S. on Wednesday surpassed 30 million cases of COVID-19, highlighting the continued threat of the virus even as the country makes progress on vaccinations. While new cases per day have decreased significantly from their peak in January, positivity totals remain high, at around 55,000 cases per day. As more vulnerable people get vaccinated, the number of deaths is declining, but there are still about 1,000 people dying from the virus every day. (Sullivan, 3/24)
The New York Times: As Virus Cases Plateau Nationally, Michigan’s Rapid Surge Worries Experts
In a sea of heartening news about the U.S. battle against the coronavirus, some experts are casting worried glances at a cloud on the horizon: Michigan, where new cases and hospitalizations are rising with alarming speed. The seven-day average of new cases has more than doubled in the last two weeks and tripled in the last month, by far the nation’s fastest rate of growth. The average for hospitalizations has grown 55 percent in the past two weeks.Michigan is now reporting more new cases each day, relative to the size of its population, than any state except New Jersey. (Wines, 3/24)
Axios: CDC Data Shows COVID-19 Hospitalizations For Older Adults Are Declining
Older adults' share of coronavirus hospitalizations is shrinking, per the CDC's COVID-NET, a surveillance network representing about 10% of the U.S. population. Americans 65 and older are significantly more likely to be vaccinated than younger Americans. Their shrinking share of hospitalizations is yet another suggestion that the vaccination effort is working. (Owens, 3/24)
Also —
CNN: Counties With More Asian, Black Or Hispanic Residents Had Higher Number Of Covid-19 Cases Earlier In The Pandemic, CDC Says
Counties in the United States with large Black, Asian and Hispanic populations were hit harder by Covid-19 in the early months of the pandemic, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a new study published Wednesday, CDC researchers said more than a quarter of counties with large Asian or Black populations reported a high Covid-19 incidence rate in the first two weeks of April last year. The CDC defines high incidence as more than 100 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the total population. (McPhillips, 3/24)
Stat: Covid Isn’t Over, But Congress Is Starting Prep For The Next Pandemic
Congress, in a rare show of bipartisanship, is gearing up to try to prevent the next pandemic. Already, a duo of powerful senators has pledged, publicly, to work together on legislation that will “make sure nothing like [Covid-19] ever happens again,” as the influential Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.) put it. (Cohrs, 3/25)
