Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Cases Trend In Wrong Direction In Midwest, Northeast
Reuters: COVID-19 Cases Rise In U.S. Midwest And Northeast, Deaths Fall For Third Week
Several states in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast have seen new COVID-19 cases increase for two weeks in a row, though nationally both new infections and deaths last week remained on a downward trend, a Reuters analysis showed. The United States reported more than 287,000 new cases in the week ended Sept. 6, down 1.4% from the previous week and marking the seventh straight week of declines. More than 5,800 people died from COVID-19 last week, the third week in a row that the death rate has fallen. (9/8)
The Washington Post: Pandemic Seems To Be Leveling Off In U.S., But Numbers Remain Troublingly High, Experts Say
The coronavirus pandemic appears to be leveling off in most of the United States, with new cases, deaths and hospitalizations all down over the past week, but the plateau leaves the country with high and persistent infection numbers and worries of a post-Labor Day surge in some areas. The number of new cases reported daily peaked above 70,000 in July and has been falling since. The decline now seems to be slowing, with the daily number hovering near 40,000 for more than a week, a review of nationwide data showed Tuesday. That is one sign that the infection may be leveling off. (Gearan and Weiner, 9/8)
CIDRAP: US Sees Almost 90,000 COVID Deaths From Memorial To Labor Day
Instead of a summer lull in novel coronavirus cases, the pandemic quadrupled in case counts and almost doubled in fatalities between the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays in the United States. According to the Washington Post, the summer of 2020 saw the US fatality count go from just under 100,000 to 186,000. Per the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker, there were 24,257 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 267 deaths, bringing the national total to 6,314,282 cases and 189,400 deaths. (Soucheray, 9/8)
The Hill: Half A Million US Children Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus
Roughly half a million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a new joint report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association. The report, which was released in early September, said that a total of 513,415 children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic. It also noted that roughly 70,000 coronavirus cases among children were reported between Aug. 20 and Sept. 3, representing a 16 percent increase in child cases from the previous two weeks. (Wise, 9/8)
In other news about the pandemic —
Politico: USAID To Shut Down Its Coronavirus Task Force
The U.S. Agency for International Development, which has been on the front lines of the battle with the coronavirus, is about to shut down the task force it set up to tackle the still-ongoing pandemic. The decision is being met with concerns by some who fear it will lead to greater dysfunction at USAID, which already faces personnel and structural turmoil. Others, however, say the task force was poorly managed and that its functions can be delegated. (Toosi, 9/8)
