Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
U.S. Death Total Climbs Past 60,000 With An Average Increase Of 2,000 A Day
The Associated Press: Grim Count: US Virus Toll Passes Trump's 60,000 Marker
President Donald Trump likes to talk about the most, the best, the thing that nobody has ever seen. Now he is trying to make a virtue of a lower number, arguing that the efforts of his administration have warded off a far greater death toll than otherwise would have been seen. But the reported U.S. death toll on Wednesday crept past 60,000, a figure that Trump in recent weeks had suggested might be the total death count. (Superville, 4/30)
Reuters: U.S. Coronavirus Outbreak Soon To Be Deadlier Than Any Flu Since 1967 As Deaths Top 60,000
America's worst flu season in recent years was in 2017-2018 when more than 61,000 people died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventihere. The only deadlier flu seasons were in 1967 when about 100,000 Americans died, 1957 when 116,000 died and the Spanish flu of 1918 when 675,000 died, according to the CDC. (Shumaker, 4/29)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 60,000 As New Data Show Economic Toll
The death toll, which has now surpassed some previous projections, shows the continuing challenge in estimating the severity of the outbreak. In late March, the Trump administration estimated between 100,000 and 240,000 people could die. About two weeks later, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview with NBC that the toll was likely to be closer to 60,000. Models released in early April by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation showed a similar result. Those models projected the rate of deaths would peak mid-April, and they estimated 61,545 fatalities by Aug. 4. New models from the institute now project 72,860 deaths by Aug. 4. (Ansari and Boston, 4/29)
The Hill: US Surpasses 60,000 Deaths Due To Coronavirus
The United States has now surpassed 60,000 domestic deaths from the novel coronavirus, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. accounts for roughly a quarter of the global deaths related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins data citing reported figures. More than 1 million Americans have tested positive for the virus since the first U.S. case was confirmed on Jan. 21. (Chalfant, 4/29)
CIDRAP: CDC: US COVID-19 Death Toll Likely Higher Than Reported
The US COVID-19 death toll officially stands at 60,316 among 1,034,884 cases, according to a tracker maintained by USA Today, but new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that death rates in seven hard-hit states are likely much higher, as total deaths in those states were almost 50% higher than normal from Mar 8 to Apr 11. (Soucheray, 4/29)
The Washington Post: U.S. Reports 66,000 More Deaths So Far This Year
The United States has suffered at least 66,000 more deaths than expected this year, a toll that includes the devastation directly caused by the coronavirus pandemic and a sharp rise in fatalities not attributed to the virus, the government reported late Wednesday. The new report from the National Center for Health Statistics shows 33,756 covid-19 deaths and 32,325 from all other causes since Jan. 1. Other causes include heart attacks, accidents, overdoses, cancer and a wide variety of other fatal diseases. (Bernstein, 4/29)
