Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccination Rates Rise, But So Do Covid Infections
The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Cases Rise In Parts Of U.S. Even As Vaccinations Pick Up
The CDC reported Monday that the seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases is at more than 67,443, up 1% from the prior seven-day average of 66,702. Four weeks ago, the seven-day average was 53,000 cases a day, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, during a press briefing Monday. The U.S. is in a “complicated stage” of the pandemic, Dr. Walensky said. (West, 4/19)
USA Today: US Reporting More Than 400K Coronavirus Cases Per Week
“While we’re making extraordinary strides in the number of people vaccinated, we still have an extraordinary amount of disease out there,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House news conference Monday. The U.S. has reported 33% of adults are fully vaccinated and over 50% of the U.S. adult population has received at least one vaccine dose, according to data from the CDC. But while cases and hospitalizations have fallen since January, the United States is still reporting more than 400,000 cases per week. And the US is reporting more than 21,000 cases of the variants found in the U.K., Brazil and South Africa. The U.K. variant has become the prominent strain in the U.S., according to the CDC. (Aspegren, 4/20)
Philadelphia Inquirer: COVID-19 Still Spreading Through Philly Region As More Can Get Vaccine, But Pa. And N.J. See Different Trends
Pennsylvania and New Jersey added more new coronavirus cases per capita than almost any other state last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with only Michigan notching a higher case rate. But while New Jersey’s COVID-19 metrics appear to be plateauing or trending downward from recent weeks, Pennsylvania’s cases are on the rise, along with hospitalizations. (Steele, 4/20)
But some positive signs emerge —
WLRN 91.3: COVID Hospitalizations Plunge Among Seniors As Immunity Takes Hold
The number of Florida seniors entering the hospital for COVID-19 dropped sharply over the past month, an indication that the vaccination campaign begun in December has been effective in protecting the group most vulnerable to the disease. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, hospitals have registered a 46% drop in admissions for COVID patients aged 70 or over since mid-February, an encouraging sign in the fight against the pandemic. 4/19)
Roll Call: Tribes See Progress In COVID-19 Fight
Last summer, the Navajo Nation had the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rate in the country. The nation’s largest Native American reservation reported 2,304 cases per 100,000 people in mid-May, compared to the U.S. average in mid-May of 8 per 100,000. On Nov. 21, Navajo Nation daily cases peaked at 401 — over 1.5 times the number of cases on the worst day of May. But on March 22, the reservation had good news. There were no deaths or even new cases to report. (Raman, 4/19)
In updates on covid variants —
Houston Chronicle: Texas A&M Researchers Discover A New COVID-19 Variant In College Station
College Station is best known as the home of Texas A&M University, but as of this month, researchers have confirmed it’s now the birthplace of a new COVID-19 strain. Only one student has tested positive for BV-1, named for the Brazos Valley. They were diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 5 and experienced mild respiratory symptoms. A second test on March 25 turned up positive results, worrying researchers the variant would cause a longer infection in young adults. (Wu, 4/19)
CNN: How To Stay Safe From Coronavirus Variants
The coronavirus variant that first originated in the United Kingdom is now the dominant variant in the United States. The B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 is present in all 50 US states and is contributing to the surges of coronavirus infection, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not only does it appear to be more transmissible; some research also suggests it can cause more severe disease, which puts more people at risk for hospitalization and death. (Hetter, 4/20)
