‘We Must Not Grow Numb To Such Sorrow’: 1 Million In US Lost To Covid
President Joe Biden commemorated the hard-to-fathom toll and called on Congress to provide the funds needed to keep fighting the virus: "We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible, as we have with more testing, vaccines, and treatments than ever before." And, covid deaths are once again starting to climb.
CBS News:
Biden Commemorates 1 Million American Lives Lost To COVID-19
President Biden is commemorating the 1 million American lives lost to COVID-19 early Thursday, hours before he hosts the second Global COVID Summit at the White House, a virtual gathering of world leaders, non-governmental organizations and private sector companies. In recognition of the disease's high toll, Mr. Biden will be issuing a proclamation ordering flags to be flown at half-staff. In remarks he recorded for the opening of the summit, Mr. Biden will speak about those Americans who have died as a result of the two-year-long coronavirus pandemic. (Cordes, Tin, Van Dercook and Brown, 5/12)
Reuters:
A Million Lives Lost
The pandemic tore apart families and divided an already politically polarized nation. COVID-19 laid bare the economic inequities between white-collar workers who could work safely from home and essential workers in grocery stores, fire stations and hospitals who had to go out and risk exposure to help others each day. Reuters photographers witnessed the devotion of doctors and nurses as they tackled a virus none of them had ever seen before. They stood beside the beds of patients sickened by the virus and unable to breathe. A year into the pandemic, they captured the joy and hope vaccines offered and the grief and despair as mostly unvaccinated Americans continued to die by the thousands each day. Here are some of the key moments during the pandemic. (Perkins, 5/11)
Politico:
How We Got To 1 Million Covid Deaths – In Four Charts
Patricia Dowd, 57, died of Covid-19 on Feb. 6, 2020.She is believed to be the first pandemic death. In the 27 months since, nearly 1 million people in the U.S. have succumbed to the coronavirus, a figure so large that it engulfs individual stories like Dowd’s into a national maw of grief with which the country is struggling to reckon. It’s as if the entire population of Delaware, Montana or Rhode Island, or all of Austin, vanished in just two years’ time. (Goldberg and Choi, 5/11)
Axios:
Deaths From COVID Begin To Rise Again
Deaths from COVID-19 are on the rise again after several weeks of upward ticking case rates sparked by Omicron variants. The U.S. averaged roughly 365 daily deaths, up 7% from about 342 two weeks ago. That's still a fraction of where things stood several months ago when the daily average was in the thousands. The increase in deaths comes after several weeks of declines. While increasingly transmissible Omicron variants have generally not appeared to cause more serious illness, some people are still dying. (Reed and Beheraj, 5/12)
Covid continues its rampage across the U.S. —
Los Angeles Times:
'Significant Uptick' In California Coronavirus Outbreaks
Coronavirus conditions are likely to worsen, with case rates continuing to rise and hospitalizations starting to increase, according to the top health official in the San Francisco Bay Area’s most populous county. “We are also seeing a pretty significant uptick in reports of outbreaks, from schools, work sites and other congregate facilities,” Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County public health director and health officer, said at a news conference Tuesday. “Many of them are related to social gatherings. It’s spring — school is ending and people are gathering, and COVID is spreading.” (Lin II, 5/10)
Des Moines Register:
Iowa COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Rise For Third Week In A Row
The number of newly reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rose for the third consecutive week, according to data released Wednesday from the Iowa Department of Public Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. New reported COVID-19 cases increased to 3,172 over the past week, or an average of 453 per day, according to the state health department. There were 124 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa on Wednesday, a rise of 38 from last week, according to federal data. Of those, 13 patients required intensive care for COVID-19 complications, another increase from the nine cases reported last week. (Lane, 5/11)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
COVID-19 Cases Rise In Southern Nevada, Triggered By Omicron Sub-Variant
A fresh wave of COVID-19 infections has hit Southern Nevada, triggered by a new omicron sub-variant, waning immunity and riskier behavior, a top official with the Southern Nevada Health District said Wednesday. Like much of the country, Southern Nevada is seeing increases in new reported coronavirus cases, said Cassius Lockett, the district’s director of disease surveillance and control. Reported cases represent an under-count of infections, since many people now are testing for the virus using at-home rapid tests, their results going unreported. (Hynes and Dylan, 5/11)
The Boston Globe:
Mass. COVID-19 Cases And Hospitalizations Are Rising, But Experts Think We May Be Nearing The Peak
In a troubling trend for a state trying to return to normal, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Massachusetts have been rising gradually for weeks. But experts say the spring wave could soon subside without reaching the heights of last winter’s deadly Omicron surge. “It’s too early for me to be confident we are peaking, but I do think we are getting close,” said Matthew Fox, a professor of epidemiology and global health at the Boston University School of Public Health. “I don’t think this will be a very strong or prolonged wave because we have so much built-up immunity from immunization and prior infection.” (Finucane, 5/11)
AP:
Guardians Hit With COVID-19 Outbreak, Manager Francona Out
The Cleveland Guardians are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that has sidelined manager Terry Francona and several of the team’s coaches, leading to the postponement of Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. ... It’s the first coronavirus-related postponement since the season started on April 7. (5/11)
AP:
Hawaii Public School Students To Remain Masked For Summer
Public school students in Hawaii will be required to wear masks while indoors for summer classes and related activities. State officials said at a news conference Wednesday that the measure is meant to keep students and families safe. Hawaii is the only state in the nation that still has a universal indoor mask requirement for public school students. (Jones, 5/11)
In covid research —
CIDRAP:
Kids' Odds Of Spreading COVID-19 In Households Rising With New Variants
A systematic review and meta-analysis published today in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases suggests that while children account for less household COVID-19 transmission, their infectiousness appears to be on the rise as new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge. (5/11)
CIDRAP:
Severe COVID, Similar Illnesses May Raise Risk For Psychiatric Disorders
A new study shows that the more than 32,000 survivors of severe COVID-19 and more than 16,000 survivors of other severe respiratory infections studied in England were at significantly higher risk than the general population for new anxiety disorders, dementia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and new neuropsychiatric drug prescriptions in the first year after hospital release. (Van Beusekom, 5/11)
CBS News:
Researchers Testing Light Technology That Could Protect Against The Next Pandemic
New technology could add another layer of protection against the next pandemic by simply turning on a light. Researchers are exploring a new way of using ultraviolet light to make indoor air safer. "It's been known for 80 years or so that ultraviolet light can kill bacteria and inactivate viruses in the air so that they're no longer infectious," Don K. Milton, professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, told CBS News. (Lapook, 5/10)
Also —
The CT Mirror:
CT COVID Testing Company Got Paid After Breaking Contract With State
Sema4, the Stamford-based health care technology firm that provided COVID testing services for the state of Connecticut since the beginning of the pandemic, was paid nearly $3 million after it dropped out of its contract last December, about half-way through its term — even though the state could have stopped payments. The state’s one-year contract with Sema4 for COVID testing, signed in July 2021, explicitly allowed the state to withhold payments if the contract was breached. (Altimari, 5/11)
