Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
US Has Hit 1M Covid Deaths, NBC Says; Omicron Assumptions Were Wrong
NBC News: Covid's Toll In U.S. Reaches 1 Million Deaths, A Once Unfathomable Number
The U.S. on Wednesday surpassed 1 million Covid-19 deaths, according to data compiled by NBC News — a once unthinkable scale of loss even for the country with the world's highest recorded toll from the virus. The number — equivalent to the population of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. — was reached at stunning speed: 27 months after the country confirmed its first case of the virus. (Chuck and Siemaszko, 5/4)
In updates on the omicron variant —
Reuters: Omicron As Severe As Previous COVID Variants, Large Study Finds
The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus is intrinsically as severe as previous variants, unlike assumptions made in previous studies that it was more transmissible but less severe, a large study in the United States has found. "We found that the risks of hospitalization and mortality were nearly identical between periods," said four scientists who conducted the study based on records of 130,000 COVID-19 patients, referring to times in the past two years when different variants were dominant across the world. (5/5)
Bloomberg: Omicron: Vaccines Effective Against New Subvariants, WHO's Tedros Says
Vaccines are effective against new omicron sub-variants driving a surge in Covid-19 cases in South Africa, the head of the World Health Organization said. “It’s too soon to know whether these new sub-variants can cause more severe disease than other omicron sub-variants, but early data suggest vaccination remains protective against severe disease and death,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a media briefing in Geneva Wednesday. (Hoffman, 5/4)
The New York Times: A New Subvariant Is Spreading Rapidly In The United States
First came Omicron, then came its highly contagious subvariant, BA.2. That subvariant gave rise to its own subvariants, whose share of new coronavirus cases in the United States is growing. The coronavirus is constantly mutating. While some variants seem to vanish, causing little ripples of surges in their wake, others have kept driving large outbreaks. Experts say a new form, BA.2.12.1, is spreading rapidly and will likely in the next weeks become the dominant form of the virus in the United States. There’s no indication yet that causes more severe disease. (Paz, 5/5)
San Francisco Chronicle: Why Getting COVID Is Still Nothing Like Getting The Flu — Even If It’s Just As ‘Normal’
Health officials are saying it, friends are saying it: COVID-19 seems on track to become as common and familiar to us as influenza. But experts stress that there are still limitations to this comparison — COVID is still, and may always be, no ordinary flu. “It is time to accept that the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is the new normal,” leaders at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote in a paper published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “It will likely circulate globally for the foreseeable future, taking its place alongside other common respiratory viruses such as influenza.” (Echeverria, 5/4)
And more news about the spread of covid —
Bloomberg: Blinken Tests Positive For Covid-19, Delays China Policy Speech
Secretary of State Antony Blinken tested positive for Covid-19 and will work from home in the coming days, prompting him to postpone a key China policy speech that had been scheduled for Thursday. Blinken, who attended the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday, is fully vaccinated and boosted and is experiencing only mild symptoms, according to a statement Wednesday from State Department spokesman Ned Price. (Martin and Faries, 5/4)
The New York Times: Virus Cases Grow After White House Correspondents Dinner
On Saturday, the comedian Trevor Noah stood before a ballroom of 2,600 journalists, celebrities and political elites at the White House Correspondents Dinner, and asked: What are we doing here? ... By Wednesday, Mr. Noah’s chiding remarks at what he called “the nation’s most distinguished superspreader event” were beginning to appear prophetic as a growing number of attendees, including a string of journalists and Antony J. Blinken, the secretary of state, said they had tested positive for the virus. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said on Wednesday that President Biden had tested negative on Tuesday after attending the dinner unmasked. Ms. Psaki added that Mr. Blinken was not considered a close contact to Mr. Biden and “has not seen the president in several days.” (Cameron, 5/4)
ABC News: COVID-19 Hospital Admissions, Deaths Forecasted To Rise In The US For First Time In Months
For the first time in months, daily hospital admission levels and new COVID-19 related deaths in the United States are both projected to increase over the next four weeks, according to updated forecast models used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The projected increases come after weeks of steady upticks in infections across the country, subsequent to the removal of masking requirements and mitigation measures in many states and cities. (Mitropoulos, 5/4)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Gains In California Spark New Concerns
Coronavirus cases are continuing to increase in California, prompting one health official to warn that the state is heading into the next wave of the pandemic. California has seen its coronavirus case rate rise by 10% in the past week, from 5,700 new cases a day to 6,300. Health experts note, however, that the official numbers may be a significant undercount, given the now-widespread availability of at-home tests — the results of which are not reliably reported to health agencies. And while still at relatively low levels, statewide coronavirus-positive hospitalizations have risen for eight consecutive days: from 950 to just above 1,100. (Lin II and Money, 5/4)
Axios: COVID Cases Jump In Northeast, Pacific Northwest
COVID cases are rising in all but four states and Washington, D.C., as Omicron and new, potentially more transmissible versions of the Omicron variant, sweep across the U.S. COVID rates in the Northeast are reaching some of their highest levels in three months. But the South may be in for a new wave come summer. A South African study found two of the new Omicron subvariants are able to evade antibodies from previous infections and vaccinations. (Reed and Beheraj, 5/5)
Des Moines Register: Iowa COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Are Both Up In Weekly Update
Newly reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rose for a second consecutive week, according to data released Wednesday from the Iowa Department of Public Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The number of new COVID-19 cases was 2,114 over the past week, or an average of 302 per day. They were the highest figures registered in one week by the state health department updates since early March. (Lane, 5/4)
Anchorage Daily News: New COVID-19 Cases And Hospitalizations Reported In Alaska Hold Relatively Steady Over 7 Days
COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases reported to Alaska’s health department held relatively steady over the past week as the “stealth” omicron subvariant remains prevalent. Even though the state’s weekly data doesn’t reflect home test results, it may be indicative of broader pandemic trends. (5/4)
The Washington Post: Carnival Cruise Passengers Stuck In Seattle After Covid Outbreak
A Carnival Cruise Line ship that docked in Seattle on Tuesday had an undisclosed number of passengers test positive for coronavirus onboard, with some reporting to local media that the company was ill-equipped to handle the latest outbreak. (Diller, 5/4)
Bay Area News Group: Los Gatos High COVID: 60 Cases, District Sends 2,000 Exposure Notices
At least 60 students at Los Gatos High School have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks, the school announced Tuesday. The positive cases increased after students returned home from spring break, and principal Kevin Buchanan said the school is not considering the surge in cases an outbreak. “So, it’s not really an outbreak. No one here said it’s an outbreak,” Buchanan said in an interview. “The message that went home was we have seen an increase since coming back from spring break, and this is not the time of year we want to see numbers trending in this direction, because there’s a lot at stake with all the remaining activities we have left in the year.” (Kanik, 5/4)
Also —
AP: Edwards Getting 4th COVID-19 Shot As Storm Season Nears
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards encouraged state residents to stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters as hurricane season approaches, saying at a Wednesday afternoon news conference that he was about to get his second booster — his fourth COVID-19 shot overall. Edwards said COVID-19 cases have been increasing but hospitalizations and deaths have remained low. He said two deaths were reported Wednesday. ... “For the third year in a row we are entering hurricane season while COVID-19 remains a real threat to individuals and to families — especially in the event that we have to do congregate sheltering,” Edwards said. (5/4)
NPR: New Report Reveals COVID's Toll On The Mental Health Of Frontline Doctors And Nurses
A new report details the economic, mental and physical health of healthcare workers. Much of the workforce is struggling with symptoms of burnout, anxiety and trauma and want to leave the profession. (5/3)
