This past week, the CDC hosted a conference of about 2,000 people in the agency’s epidemic intelligence service. And at least a few of the conference’s attendees tested positive for COVID-19 afterward.
Read MoreSources and updates for the week of April 30 include premature deaths, youth risk behaviors, financial issues after COVID-19, and more.
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A lot of healthcare organizations have ended mask mandates in recent months, many of them citing guidance changes at state or local levels. This is likely another case of health agencies and organizations making changes that are, in fact, very dangerous for their patients.
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After May 11, the CDC will stop reporting COVID-19 Community Levels, according to reporting by Brenda Goodman at CNN. The agency is overall planning to shift from using case data to hospitalizations and wastewater surveillance.
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Major COVID-19 metrics continue to suggest an ongoing (though slight) decline in the virus’ spread nationally, despite the rise of newer and more contagious variants. The moderate plateau persists.
Read MoreSources and updates for the week of April 23 include a people’s review of the CDC, COVIDTests.gov usage, vaccine equity, and more.
Read MoreThis week, the FDA made some adjustments to the U.S.’s COVID-19 vaccine guidance in order to standardize all new mRNA shots to bivalent (or Omicron-specific) vaccines, and to allow adults at higher risk to receive additional boosters. The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and Director Rochelle Walensky both endorsed these changes.
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In December 2020, Congress gave the National Institutes of Health $1.2 billion to study Long COVID. But it’s been more than two years, and the RECOVER initiative doesn’t have much to show for that money—besides a growing number of frustrated people in the Long COVID community.
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Across the U.S., COVID-19 spread continues at a moderately high plateau as newer versions of Omicron compete with XBB.1.5. Officially-reported cases and new hospitalizations declined by 7% and 8% respectively, compared to the prior week.
Read MoreLast week, I wrote about the Iowa health department’s move to end COVID-19 case reporting requirements for labs, and in turn stop reporting these data to the CDC. Well, Montana just became the next state to follow this trend.
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