Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'We Are Still In A Pandemic': Spikes In Cases, Hospitalization Worry Experts As States Race To Reopen
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Hospitalizations On The Rise In Nine States Since Memorial Day
As the number of new coronavirus cases continues to increase worldwide, and more than a dozen states and Puerto Rico are recording their highest averages of new cases since the pandemic began, hospitalizations in at least nine states have been on the rise since Memorial Day. In Texas, North and South Carolina, California, Oregon, Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah and Arizona, there are an increasing number of patients under supervised care since the holiday weekend because of coronavirus infections. The spikes generally began in the past couple weeks and in most states are trending higher. (Pell, Buckner and Dupree, 6/9)
CNN: US Coronavirus: 19 States See Rising Cases And Arizona Is Asking Its Hospitals To Activate Emergency Plans
Health experts have long warned about a second peak in Covid-19, and now a rise in cases has pushed Arizona to tell its hospitals to activate emergency plans. Arizona is one of the 19 states with the trend of new coronavirus cases still increasing. While 24 are trending downward, seven states' trends are holding steady. Nationally more than 1.9 million people have been infected by the virus and more than 112,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Holcombe, 6/10)
NBC News: 'We Are Still In A Pandemic': In Some States, Summer Months May Not Provide A Hoped-For Lull
Businesses are slowly reopening. "Six feet apart" seems to be shrinking in distance. Face coverings are optional in most places. Some may believe the COVID-19 pandemic is ending in the United States, but in truth, "we are still in a pandemic," according to Dr. Jay Butler, head of the COVID-19 response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many people in the U.S. remain vulnerable to the disease, and the pandemic will continue as long as there's a readily transmissible virus and a population with little or no immunity to it, Butler told NBC News. (Edwards, 6/9)
Los Angeles Times: California Coronavirus Cases Remain On Upward Trajectory
The number of coronavirus infections throughout California continues to rise steadily as counties further lift stay-at-home restrictions amid increasing efforts to restore the battered economy. On Monday, health officials reported nearly 3,100 cases, bringing the total to more than 134,000 infections in the state. California surpassed 100,000 cases a little less than two weeks ago and has reported at least 2,000 infections every day since. (Shalby, 6/9)
San Francisco Chronicle: Too Much, Too Soon? Bay Area Reopening Despite Recent Surge In Coronavirus Cases
The Bay Area is rolling forward with reopening the economy even as coronavirus case counts are comparable to or much higher than the earliest days of the outbreak, when the region made the unprecedented move to begin sheltering in place. Several counties in the Bay Area, which remains more conservative than the rest of California in its pandemic response, are moving to reopen at a steady clip despite recent surges in cases. The region as a whole is reporting as many new cases each week now as in March, reversing several weeks of declining numbers. (Allday, 6/9)
Reuters: Arizona Calls For Emergency Plan As COVID-19 Spikes After Reopening
Arizona again told hospitals to activate the coronavirus emergency plans after cases spiked following reopening, turning it into a U.S. virus hotspot along with neighboring Southwest states. The state’s stay-at-home order ended on May 15, and its cases have increased 115 percent since then, leading a former state health chief to warn Arizona may need new social distancing measures or field hospitals. (Hay, 6/9)
Kaiser Health News: New Coronavirus Hot Spots Emerge Across South And In California, As Northeast Slows
Mass protests against police violence across the U.S. have public health officials concerned about an accelerated spread of the coronavirus. But even before the protests began May 26, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, several states had been recording big jumps in the number of COVID-19 cases. The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, registered his concern at a congressional hearing Thursday. (Bebinger, Farmer and Fortier, 6/10)
