Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Not A Straight Line Down: Daily Cases Creep Back Up Last Two Days
The Wall Street Journal: New U.S. Coronavirus Cases Tick Up For Second Straight Day
New coronavirus infections rose slightly in the U.S. for the second day but remained lower than in recent weeks, while Illinois faced a surge in Covid-19 driven by rural areas. The country reported about 38,200 new cases on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, up a few hundred from Monday but still an improvement from last week, when cases topped 40,000 most days and neared 50,000 on some. (Mendell, 8/26)
The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Surge In Illinois Is Inflamed By Rural Counties
As new coronavirus cases continue to decline nationally, health officials and business leaders in rural parts of Illinois are raising alarms about rising infection rates that are fueling a steady increase in positive cases statewide. In the past two weeks, eight of the 10 counties in Illinois with the fastest rates of new Covid-19 cases per capita were in smaller nonmetropolitan counties across the state, compared with two metro counties, according to an analysis of data tracked by Johns Hopkins University. (Maher, 8/25)
The New York Times: New Virus Hot Spots: U.S. Islands From Hawaii To Puerto Rico
The U.S. Virgin Islands is halting tourism for a month, hoping against hope to keep out new cases of the coronavirus. Puerto Rico’s Senate is closed after several high-ranking officials came down with Covid-19. Hawaii is facing a surge in new infections. Guam is enduring its most restrictive lockdown since the pandemic began. For months, United States islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific avoided much of the agony unleashed by the coronavirus across parts of the mainland, due in part to their early mitigation efforts and relative ease in sealing off borders. (Romero and Mazzei, 8/25)
CNBC: New Cases Of The Coronavirus Are Falling In Most Of The U.S.
While testing has declined in recent weeks, the number of new cases is falling faster than testing rates, indicating that at least some of the drop is real. Epidemiologists credit a more unified health message in the U.S. that has more people following social distancing rules. They also say that keeping some businesses closed has helped slow the outbreak. And President Donald Trump started endorsing masks in late July, bringing the White House in line with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after months of resistance. (Feuer, 8/25)
In related news —
CIDRAP: Kids Represent 9.3% Of US COVID Cases But Few Serious Ones
In an update today on how the pandemic has affected US children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said about 9.3% of all COVID-19 patients so far are children, representing about 442,000 confirmed cases. The overall rate of pediatric infection is 583 cases per 100,000 children in the population.Though officials confirmed 74,160 new child cases in the second and third week of August, resulting in a 21% increase in child cases over 2 weeks, hospitalizations and fatalities among children are still rare, the AAP said. (Soucheray, 8/25)
