Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
US Surpasses 160,000 Coronavirus Deaths, Adding 10,000 Over Last Week
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Covid-19 Death Toll Tops 160,000
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic passed 160,000, as parts of the country showed signs that the virus’s spread was easing. The U.S. reported more than 59,000 new coronavirus cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, the total number of confirmed cases surpassed 19 million, with the U.S. making up about a quarter of the tally. (Hall, 8/7)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Daily Coronavirus Case Count Stays Below Recent Highs
The number of newly reported coronavirus cases across the country remained short of highs seen in late July, but a drop in testing in some states could be obscuring the extent of the virus’s spread. (Prang and Calfas, 8/7)
Los Angeles Times: California Tops 10,000 Coronavirus Deaths
The death toll from the coronavirus in California surpassed 10,000 people on Thursday, a mark that underscores how a state that was once hailed as a pandemic success story is now struggling to slow outbreaks. The surge of the coronavirus in California over the last two months had several causes, including the reopening of the economy that allowed COVID-19 to spread rapidly among low-wage workers, many of them Latino essential workers whose employers haven’t followed new infection control rules. But summer celebrations among young people is also a recurring problem, and one particularly frustrating to officials trying to slow outbreaks. (Greene, Lin II, Shalby and Lee, 8/6)
A new model warns of many more deaths by the end of the year —
Reuters: University Of Washington Forecasts 300,000 U.S. COVID-19 Deaths
Nearly 300,000 Americans could be dead from COVID-19 by Dec. 1, University of Washington health experts forecast on Thursday, although they said 70,000 lives could be saved if people were scrupulous about wearing masks. The latest predictions from the university’s widely cited Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) comes as top White House infectious disease advisers warned that major U.S. cities could erupt as new coronavirus hot spots if officials there were not vigilant with counter-measures. (Chiacu and McKay, 8/6)
In global news —
AP: India Hits 2 Million Cases As Health Volunteers Strike
As India hit another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, crossing 2 million cases and more than 41,000 deaths, community health volunteers went on strike complaining they were ill-equipped to respond to the wave of infection in rural areas. Even as India has maintained comparatively low mortality rates, the disease trajectory varies widely across the country with the burden shifting from cities with relatively robust health systems to rural areas, where resources are scarce or nonexistent. (Schmall, 8/7)
AP: Africa Passes 1M Confirmed Virus Cases; True Number Far More
Africa’s confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed 1 million, but global health experts say the true toll is likely several times higher, reflecting the gaping lack of testing for the continent’s 1.3 billion people. While experts say infection tolls in richer nations can be significant undercounts, large numbers of undetected cases are a greater danger for Africa, with many of the world’s weakest health systems. More than 22,000 people have died of COVID-19. (Anna, 8/6)
