Kaiser Health News -
November 24, 2020
When she called, her son was referred to urgent care, a practice that has become common for the Edward Medical Group, which included her family doctor and more than 100 other doctors affiliated with local urgent care and hospital facilities. Because of concerns about the transmission of the coronavirus, the group is now generally relying on virtual visits for the sick, but often refers infants and young children to urgent care to be seen in person. … As doctors and medical practices nationwide navigate a new normal with COVID-19 again surging, some are relying on urgent care sites and emergency departments to care for sick patients, even those with minor ailments.
TIME -
November 24, 2020
Even before COVID-19 stripped people of their jobs, shuttered businesses and claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives, some 13.7 million U.S. families—10.5% of households—experienced food insecurity at some point in 2019. The pandemic has only made things worse. Researchers at Northwestern University estimate that food insecurity rates have more than doubled, now impacting as many as 23% of U.S. households this year.
CBS News -
November 24, 2020
As the holidays near — typically the busiest time of the year for U.S. retailers — supermarket employees say they're afraid to go to work as coronavirus cases skyrocket. … At least 350 UFCW members have died of COVID-19, including 109 grocery workers, according to the union.
AP -
November 24, 2020
The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, expects that holiday sales could actually exceed growth seen in prior seasons, despite all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. … The trade group said Monday that it predicts that sales for the November and December period will increase between 3.6% and 5.2% over 2019 to a total ranging between $755.3 billion and $766.7 billion.
STAT -
November 24, 2020
Essential workers are likely to move ahead of adults 65 and older and people with high-risk medical conditions when the CDC signs off on Covid-19 vaccine priority lists, coming after health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities, a meeting of an expert advisory panel made clear Monday. The intention is to bring many people of color closer to the front of the vaccine priority line — should they want to be vaccinated — in recognition of the fact that the pandemic has disproportionately hit Black and Latino communities.
NPR -
November 20, 2020
The CDC is strongly recommending that people stay home for Thanksgiving to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. With the holiday one week away, the agency issued a statement that taking a trip to see loved ones is simply inadvisable right now. "Travel may increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19," the CDC explained in an advisory released Thursday. "Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others this year."
AP -
November 20, 2020
Pfizer said Friday it is asking U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic -- but not until after a long, hard winter. The action comes days after Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech announced that its vaccine appears 95% effective at preventing mild to severe COVID-19 disease in a large, ongoing study. The companies said that protection plus a good safety record means the vaccine should qualify for emergency use authorization, something the FDA can grant before the final testing is fully complete.
Reuters -
November 20, 2020
The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the US has jumped nearly 50% in the last two weeks, forcing states to impose new restrictions to curb the alarming viral spread as Americans face a potentially grim winter and holiday season. Nearly 79,000 people were being treated for the disease in hospitals across the country on Thursday, a Reuters tally showed, the most at any time during the pandemic. The country has been recording 161,607 new cases daily on a 7-day rolling average as of Wednesday.
CBS News -
November 20, 2020
Coronavirus hospitalizations nationwide are up more than 100% in the last month. Rural hospitals, in particular, are at a tipping point. Nearly 20% of Americans rely on them. … Large cities initially bore the brunt of the pandemic and while COVID-19 cases are increasing again, nowhere are they rising faster than rural areas. In Idaho, 1 out of every 4 coronavirus tests come back positive. Still, there are many who refuse to wear masks.
CNN -
November 20, 2020
The US CDC’s ensemble forecast now projects the country's Covid-19 death toll could reach between 276,000 and 298,000 by December 12 -- just weeks after the US surpassed the 250,000 mark on Wednesday. The CDC's ensemble forecast, which offers projections for the next few weeks, previously projected up to 282,000 deaths by December 5.
AP -
November 20, 2020
With coronavirus cases surging and families hoping to gather safely for Thanksgiving, long lines to get tested have reappeared across the U.S. — a reminder that the nation’s testing system remains unable to keep pace with the virus. The delays are happening as the country braces for winter weather, flu season and holiday travel, all of which are expected to amplify a U.S. outbreak … Laboratories warned that continuing shortages of key supplies are likely to create more bottlenecks and delays, especially as cases rise across the nation and people rush to get tested before reuniting with relatives.
Reuters -
November 20, 2020
Officials working on vaccine distribution planning under President Donald Trump have no intention of briefing anyone on President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, Democratic senators said on Thursday, as Biden warned the failure to share information would cost lives. “Just off a conference call with Trump Administration vaccine distribution team,” Senator Chris Murphy said on Twitter. “They confirmed that they have not briefed anyone on President-elect Biden’s team and have no plans to do so. This is potentially catastrophic.”
CNN -
November 20, 2020
Tyson supervisors at a pork processing facility in Waterloo, Iowa took bets on how many workers would get infected with Covid-19, even as they took measures to protect themselves and denied knowledge of the spread of the illness at work, according to new allegations in a lawsuit against the company and some employees. The wrongful death suit was originally filed this summer by Oscar Fernandez, whose father Isidro Fernandez died in April due to complications from Covid-19. Fernandez had worked at Tyson's Waterloo, Iowa facility, the company's largest pork processing plant, before he died.
HealthDay -
November 20, 2020
Pregnant women with COVID-19 have little risk of developing severe symptoms, as do their newborns, a new study finds. In fact, 95% of these women have good outcomes, and just 3% of their babies test positive for COVID-19, researchers say. "For 5% of COVID-19-positive pregnant women, however -- those who get very sick -- the risks to both mother and baby are significant," said study lead author Dr. Emily Adhikari, medical director of perinatal infectious diseases at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
USA Today -
November 20, 2020
"From mid-March through the end of this year, it is estimated that the suspension of cruising in the U.S. will result in a loss of more than $32 billion in economic activity and more than 254,000 American jobs," Golin-Blaugrund said, adding that that number includes cruising's economic contributions across multiple sectors, "from transportation and aviation, to food and beverage services, lodging, manufacturing, agriculture, travel agencies and a vast suppliers and service providers across the US."
NPR -
November 19, 2020
The US has surpassed yet another devastating milestone in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: 250,000 Americans have now died from the disease. That's more than twice the number of U.S. service members killed in World War I. Coronavirus case numbers are exploding across the country at the beginning of what is shaping up to be a difficult winter of illness in America.