Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Omicron Might Have Peaked, But The Pandemic's Not Over — Nor Is Delta
The Atlantic: Delta’s Not Dead Yet
Pour one out for Delta, the SARS-CoV-2 variant that Season 3 of the pandemic seems intent on killing off. After holding star billing through the summer and fall of 2021, Delta’s spent the past several weeks getting absolutely walloped by its feistier cousin Omicron—a virus that’s adept at both blitzing in and out of airways and dodging the antibodies that vaccines and other variants raise. In late November, Delta made up essentially all the SARS-CoV-2 infections that researchers were sequencing in the United States. Now it’s a measly 0.1 percent. As for the rest? It’s an Omicron show. (Wu, 1/27)
The New York Times: Yes, Omicron Is Loosening Its Hold. But The Pandemic Has Not Ended
After a frenetic few weeks when the Omicron variant of the coronavirus seemed to infect everyone, including the vaccinated and boosted, the United States is finally seeing encouraging signs. As cases decline in some parts of the country, many have begun to hope that this surge is the last big battle with the virus — that because of its unique characteristics, the Omicron variant will usher Americans out of the pandemic. (Mandavilli, 1/27)
Modern Healthcare: Omicron May Have Peaked, But HCA Expects COVID-19 To Linger In 2022
HCA Healthcare isn't convinced that the COVID-19 omicron variant is done with it, the for-profit health system's chief executive said on an earnings call Thursday. During the fourth quarter, 5% of patients admitted to its 182 hospitals had COVID-19, the Nashville, Tennessee-based health system reported. That's significantly lower than the 13% of admissions recorded during the previous three months, but those 27,000 patients were still enough to put a damper on fourth quarter earnings, which fell below Wall Street analysts' estimates. (Bannow, 1/27)
In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —
Bloomberg: Covid Cases For U.S. West Coast Dockworkers Top All Of 2021’s
About 1,700 dockworkers at West Coast ports have tested positive for Covid-19 in January, stretching capacity at the U.S.’s busiest gateway for shipping containers. The number of infections for this month compares with 1,624 for all of 2021, according to the Pacific Maritime Association, which negotiates contacts with the International Longshore and Warehouses Union for 70 companies at 29 ports on the coast. About 80% of January’s reported infections were at the U.S.’s two largest ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Almost 15,000 ILWU workers are employed at West Coast ports. (Curtis, 1/27)
Oklahoman: Oklahoma Hits All-Time Record For COVID-19 Hospitalizations
Oklahoma hit an all-time high in COVID-19 hospitalizations on Thursday, recording a three-day average of 2,070 patients. Of those, 561 are in Oklahoma City. That surpassed the state's previous record of 1,994 COVID-19 hospitalizations, which was a single-day total, set in January 2021. The omicron surge has hit hospitals hard. In this wave, hospitals are dealing with record-high hospitalizations on top of worse staffing shortages than they've faced in previous waves. (Branham, 1/27)
The Texas Tribune: Texas ICU Beds Hit Record Low
The number of Texas intensive care unit beds available for adult patients is at an all-time low for the pandemic, with only 259 staffed beds open across the state as of Wednesday, as hospitals fight a historic staffing crisis and more unvaccinated people infected by the omicron variant pour into hospitals. That’s 11 fewer beds than the previous record set in September during the deadly surge of the delta variant of COVID-19, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. An average of 295 available beds has been reported in the last week, which is also lower than previous record averages. (Harper, Zhang and Essig, 1/27)
Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Undercounted COVID Hospitalizations By Scores Of Patients, New Data Reveals
As Utah reported 7,033 new coronavirus cases Thursday and new record for the number of hospitalized patients, state health officials announced they have been undercounting such patients by scores in recent weeks. For example, Wednesday’s hospitalizations — previously reported as a record 776 patients admitted — were actually higher than that. The updated counts show 837 patients were hospitalized as of Wednesday, a record high that was topped once again on Thursday, when UDOH reported 843 Utahns were hospitalized with the coronavirus. (Harkins, Pierce and Alberty, 1/27)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Omicron Peaks Across Louisiana As Health Experts Gauge How Mardi Gras Will Impact Hospitals
The omicron wave has peaked in Louisiana. In recent days, the number of new cases of COVID-19 in the state have steadily fallen from the all-time high of 81,305 weekly reached the week ending Jan. 8. However, health experts said the declines are driven by sharp drops in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, the state's most populous regions, and warned that cases are still rising elsewhere. “When you look at the state as a whole, we have peaked,” said Dr. Joe Kanter, the state's top health officer, at a press briefing Thursday. “But there still are a few regions of the state that are going up and we expect will be peaking very soon.” (Woodruff and Adelson, 1/28)
KHN: In Super-Vaxxed Vermont, Covid Strikes — But Packs Far Less Punch
Even Eden, a snow-covered paradise in northern Vermont, is poisoned by omicron. The nearly vertical ascent of new coronavirus cases in recent weeks, before peaking in mid-January, affected nearly every mountain hamlet, every shuttered factory town, every frozen bucolic college campus in this state despite its near-perfect vaccination record. Of all the states, Vermont appeared best prepared for the omicron battle: It is the nation’s most vaccinated state against covid, with nearly 80% of residents fully vaccinated — and 95% of residents age 65 and up, the age group considered most vulnerable to serious risk of covid. (Varney, 1/28)
Indianapolis Star: IU Health To Resume Elective Surgeries In February As Omicron Eases
Indiana University Health will soon resume elective surgeries, rescheduling the thousands of procedures that have been delayed for months as COVID-19 and other acutely ill patients have crowded the health system’s 16 hospitals. Some procedures could begin next week, said Dr. Paul Calkins, vice president and associate chief medical executive. At each hospital, deciding which patients to schedule first will be “a bit of a judgment call,” Calkins said. “We’re hoping to get to everybody as quickly as we can.” (Rudavsky, 1/28)
