Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Omicron May Be Leveling Off In NYC; Michigan, Idaho, California Hit Hard
Bloomberg: NYC Covid Rates Are ‘Plateauing,’ N.Y. Governor Hochul Says
The omicron-fueled Covid surge in New York appears to be “cresting over that peak” as the rate of increase slows, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday. She said the percentage of New Yorkers that tested positive has dropped to 18.6%, from more than 22% in recent days. In New York City, Covid rates are “plateauing,” while upstate figures are tracking behind the city by a couple of weeks, Hochul said in a virus briefing. (Clukey, 1/11)
Detroit Free Press: Michigan's COVID-19 Surge Intensifies, Could Peak In Late January
"We're now at a point that we have not seen through this pandemic," Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive, said Tuesday, noting that metro Detroit has been hardest hit, with the highest hospitalization rate in the state from the virus. "When we look at our percent positivity, we are up to 33.2%. This is a number that we have not seen since the beginning of the pandemic when tests were very limited. And then, when we look at hospital capacity, we're at 21.9% of our inpatient beds filled with COVID-19 positive individuals." (Jordan Shamus and Boucher, 1/11)
AP: Idaho Officials: COVID Climbing Too Fast To Timely Track
Idaho’s coronavirus cases are increasing faster than the state can track them, causing a lag in case counts that some public health leaders fear could lull residences into a false sense of security. Deputy state epidemiologist said during a briefing Tuesday that the backlog is happening because public health agencies can’t keep up with the flood of positive COVID-19 tests. (Boone, 1/12)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Urges Residents To Postpone Nonessential Gatherings
As an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections washes over the region, Los Angeles County health officials are urging residents to postpone nonessential gatherings and avoid some activities — especially those with people who are unmasked, unvaccinated or at higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness. The ask comes just ahead of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. The Lunar New Year is also right around the corner on Feb. 1, and the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood is a month away. (Money and Lin II, 1/11)
AP: Illinois Prisons Pause County Intakes Due To Pandemic
The Illinois Department of Corrections has temporarily paused intakes from county jails because of COVID-19 outbreaks at prisons, the agency said Tuesday. The affected prison facilities include the Graham, Logan, Menard and Northern Reception and Classification Centers, where county jails transport new admissions, it said. (1/12)
AP: Omicron Wave Prompts Media To Rethink Which Data To Report
For two years, coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations have been widely used barometers of the pandemic’s march across the world. But the omicron wave is making a mess of the usual statistics, forcing news organizations to rethink the way they report such figures. “It’s just a data disaster,” said Katherine Wu, staff writer who covers COVID-19 for The Atlantic magazine. (Bauder, 1/12)
CNN: Jim Justice: West Virginia Governor Feels 'Extremely Unwell' After Testing Positive For Covid-19 And Cancels State Legislature Address
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice tested positive Tuesday for Covid-19 and described feeling "extremely unwell" as he isolates at home, according to a statement. Justice, 70, awoke Tuesday morning with congestion and a cough, eventually developing a headache and fever, he said in the statement. By late afternoon, his blood pressure and heart rate were elevated and he had a high fever. Results from a rapid test in the morning came back negative but a PCR test came back positive, he said. (Boyette and Sever, 1/12)
Covid is the leading cause of law enforcement deaths —
NBC News: Law Enforcement Fatalities Spiked In 2021. Covid-19 Was The Leading Cause Of Death
The number of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty across the U.S. last year totaled 458, a 55 percent increase from 2020, the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund said in a report released Tuesday.Covid-19 was the leading cause of death, having killed 301 federal, state, tribal and local officers, the report said. (Stelloh, 1/11)
Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Cases Surge In LAPD; More Than 800 Personnel Out
Cases of COVID-19 continued to surge in the Los Angeles Police Department this week, with more than 800 personnel now at home sick or quarantining, officials said. LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the civilian Police Commission during its morning meeting Tuesday that there were 562 new cases among department personnel in the prior week alone, after 424 new cases the week before. A total of 803 personnel in the department of about 12,200 were out. Those figures represent a massive increase from the 82 new cases the week ending on Christmas, and from less than 30 new cases per week as recently as a month ago, Moore said. There were 89 officers out sick or quarantining a month ago. (Rector, 1/11)
People are urged to upgrade their masks —
KHN: Ask KHN-PolitiFact: Is My Cloth Mask Good Enough? The 2022 Edition
The highly transmissible omicron variant is sweeping the U.S., causing a huge spike in covid-19 cases and overwhelming many hospital systems. Besides urging Americans to get vaccinated and boosted, public health officials are recommending that people upgrade from their cloth masks to higher-quality medical-grade masks. But what does this even mean? (Knight, 1/12)
Axios: How Switching To An N95 Mask Gives A 75x Boost In COVID Protection
With the Omicron variant causing infections to surge to record levels, masking is more important than ever — and increasing evidence indicates the quality of mask makes a significant difference. Fitted particle-filtering masks like N95s are up to 75 times more effective at preventing infection with COVID-19 than surgical masks, according to a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Chase, 1/11)
