CDC: CDC launches website to help consumers find free COVID-19 testing sites . “Tests offered may include laboratory-based nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, and rapid antigen point-of-care (POC) testing. Results are typically provided within 24–48 hours. Testing is available at pharmacies, commercial laboratory sites, community sites, and retail locations.”
CDC: COVID-19 Was Third Leading Cause of Death in U.S.. “Two reports released in today’s MMWR use CDC’s National Vital Statistics System to look at death rates in the United States and find that differences in death rates still remain between certain racial and ethnic minority groups. The first report provides an overview of provisional U.S. mortality data for 2021, including a comparison of death rates for all causes of death and for deaths involving COVID-19. The study found that the overall age-adjusted death rate increased by almost 1% in 2021 from 2020. Overall death rates were highest among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native and non-Hispanic Black or African American people. For the second year, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer.”
The Guardian: CDC coding error led to overcount of 72,000 Covid deaths. “Last week, after reporting from the Guardian on mortality rates among children, the CDC corrected a ‘coding logic error’ that had inadvertently added more than 72,000 Covid deaths of all ages to the data tracker, one of the most publicly accessible sources for Covid data. The agency briefly noted the change in a footnote, although the note did not explain how the error occurred or how long it was in effect.”
Politico: CDC wants to monitor poop: States aren’t all on board. “Probing poop can help public health officials more quickly identify and respond to clusters of Covid cases or other viruses. But lackluster participation leaves gaping holes in what public officials intend to be a comprehensive early warning system for infectious diseases, rendering the country vulnerable to the next Covid-19 variant or public health crisis, according to POLITICO interviews with state health officials and wastewater experts across 17 states.”
Axios: CDC study: COVID vaccination during pregnancy protects infants. “Getting vaccinated against the coronavirus while pregnant can protect infants 6 months and younger from being hospitalized for COVID, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Washington Post: Opinion: The CDC got it wrong. It should have urged all adults to get covid-19 booster shots.. “Even though the United States is experiencing a new surge of covid-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended last week that all adults be made eligible for booster shots but only urged shots for people older than 50. That was a big mistake. It should have urged all adults to get them.”
Yahoo News: CDC recommends masks stay on in schools. “Even as the Biden administration is preparing to roll out coronavirus vaccines for children as young as 5, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, indicated on Wednesday morning that her agency would not be changing its guidance that all teachers, students and staff wear masks in schools.”
CNN: Pfizer vaccine is 93% effective in preventing Covid-19 hospitalization among adolescents, CDC study finds. “The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is 93% effective in preventing hospitalization due to Covid-19 among children ages 12 to 18, according to a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccine effectiveness differed only slightly within that age group, with 91% effectiveness for children age 12 to 15 and 94% effectiveness for those age 16 to 18.”
VOA: Federal Court Orders CDC to Release Trump-Era Media Policies. “A federal court order compelling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hand over Trump-era policies on media interactions has been welcomed by First Amendment experts. The ruling came a year after the Knight First Amendment Institute filed a lawsuit against the CDC because the public health agency had failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.”
FedTech: CDC Launches Forecasting Center to Help Predict Emerging Diseases. “The agency, which has been criticized by some for how slowly it has sometimes analyzed and shared data during the pandemic, said the new center will ‘accelerate access to and use of data for public health decision-makers who need information to mitigate the effects of disease threats, such as social and economic disruption’ and will ‘prioritize equity and accessibility, while serving as a hub for innovation and research on disease modeling.’”
Knight First Amendment Institute: In Knight Institute Lawsuit, Court Orders CDC to Release Trump Administration Policies Restricting Employees’ Ability to Speak to Press and Public. “A federal court today ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to release records concerning Trump administration policies that restricted CDC employees’ ability to speak to the press and the public about the coronavirus pandemic. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed the lawsuit last year when the CDC did not respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request the Institute filed seeking the policies.”
Miami Herald: Florida COVID update: More than 28,000 cases per day over the weekend, another record. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday afternoon released COVID-19 data for the weekend that showed Florida shattering its single-day case record. But by Monday night — the Florida Department of Health disputed those numbers.”
New York Times: Americans Suffer Pandemic Whiplash as Leaders Struggle With Changing Virus. “An evolving virus and 18 months of ever-changing pandemic messaging have left Americans angry, exhausted and skeptical of public health advice.”
Miami Herald: Florida sets a record with 21,683 new COVID-19 cases reported Saturday, the CDC says. “That’s a jump over the previous record, 19,334, on Jan. 7, during the worst month of the pandemic, when daily case counts were routinely topping 10,000. It was the second peak of the pandemic and in the months following cases returned to average levels of between 2,000 and 8,000 daily cases.”
New York Times: C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox. “The Delta variant is much more contagious, more likely to break through protections afforded by the vaccines and may cause more severe disease than all other known versions of the virus, according to an internal presentation circulated within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
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