An analysis by the medical website STAT shows that patients who must be hospitalized for Covid-19 are surviving at higher rates than at the beginning of the crisis. Patients are also requiring shorter hospital stays, declining from 10.5 days in March to 4.6 days in September. Health experts believe the improved rates are primarily the result of more understanding of the disease as well as treatments, such as life-saving steroids. Also, those who are now going to the hospital for care are younger than those who needed treatment earlier in the pandemic.
Doctors, however, warn that progress gained could be lost if hospitals are again overwhelmed, which is now occurring in several states. With the country setting new records of hospitalizations daily, care is getting threatened, and death rates — not just deaths — could increase.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC
So far, the month of November has seen three million new coronavirus cases in the U.S., more than any other month since the pandemic began. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, that represents about a quarter of all cases in this country since the crisis began. A record 83,000 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized on Saturday, the 12th straight day of record hospitalizations.
Leaders of the Black clergy are partnering with the United Way of New York City to create a new initiative to combat the coronavirus’ impact on the African American community.
The initiative, which launched yesterday, aims to circulate resources through accelerated testing, contact tracing, public health education and treatment management to fight the virus. The effort will begin in January with a rollout in five major cities – New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Washington and Newark, New Jersey.
Among the clergy helping to lead the effort are the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and a Democratic Senate candidate in Georgia.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has announced that trials in the U.K. and Brazil show its coronavirus vaccine is up to 90% effective. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported in those receiving the vaccine. According to public health officials, AstraZeneca’s vaccine will be cheaper and easier to distribute than its rival vaccines.
