Covid Act Now Daily Download.
|
Covid Act Now Daily Download
By the numbers // 20:00 ET 15 July 2020
COVID Risk
⬤ Active or imminent outbreak
⬤ At risk
⬤ Controlled disease growth
⬤ On track to contain COVID
Risk Indicators
Is the number of infections and deaths going down?
Is COVID testing widespread enough to identify new cases?
Do hospitals have capacity to treat a surge of COVID hospitalizations?
Are we finding and isolating most new cases before COVID spreads?
Cases: 3,478,419
+65,106 / 24h
Deaths: 129,595
+855 / 24h
Tests: 42,521,027
+756,470 / 24h
The Day’s Top COVID Stories
-
NPR reports on the White House's directive to hospitals to send critical information about COVID hospitalizations and equipment directly to the Department of Health and Human Services, rather than to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DHS oversees the CDC). Public health experts expressed dismay and confusion over the reporting change because of how it could disrupt public access to the data. The CDC director defended the change, saying it was designed to "streamline reporting," but top career scientists worry that the new reporting system ignores the agency's valuable expertise and disrupts the CDC's decades-long relationships with hospitals.
-
The Hill reports a finding by Florida health officials claiming that approximately 31 percent, or one-third, of children in Florida tested for COVID yield positive results. CAN Note: the report lacks context that would let us immediately confirm that it has been reviewed for sampling bias.
- Vox digs into how COVID is straining hospitals in Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona. Texas hospitals warn they are running out of staff, PPE, drugs, and other supplies. Hospitals in California are out of ventilators, hospital staff in Florida are burning out, and Arizona is running out of ICU beds and making brutal decisions about patient care.
New COVID Literature & Studies
-
A study analyzing the genome of the novel coronavirus in India finds various types of mutations (including base substitutions, deletions, and insertions). The researchers propose that these mutations can be used to classify strains of the coronavirus and to potentially design more effective vaccines for specific strains. Read the study.
-
A large study finds that blood type is not associated with risk of severe disease or death among patients with COVID. These results are in contrast to several earlier studies suggesting that type A blood is associated with worse outcomes and type O blood is associated with better outcomes. Overall, data on blood type is probably still too uncertain for it to be a part of widespread risk profiling. Read the study.
- An article reviews current evidence for respiratory droplet vs. aerosol transmission of COVID and finds that aerosol-based transmission appears to be less likely. This result means that six feet of physical distancing, wearing face coverings (either medical masks, cloth masks, or face shields), maintaining hand hygiene, and keeping environments well ventilated should be effective in stopping COVID spread. Read the study.
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact
General Inquiries:
info@covidactnow.org
Press Inquiries:
press@covidactnow.org
|
