Monday, January 30, 2023

How many Americans are actually dying from COVID-19?

Plus more health news |

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The Data Don't Give Us an Accurate Measurement of the Number of Americans Dying From COVID-19
By Alice Park
Senior Health Correspondent

It seems pretty reasonable to expect that when you click on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Data Tracker to find out how many people are hospitalized or die from the disease, you’ll get a pretty accurate measure of who is getting seriously sick from, or dying from it. But it turns out that the numbers aren’t as clear cut as most people, including public health experts, expect. Here’s are some takeaways from what I learned reporting on the issue over the last week:

  • The current national numbers represent a mix of states who report all COVID-19 related hospital admissions, and those who do more detailed analyses to distinguish people who are admitted because of COVID-19 and those who are admitted for other reasons and also test positive for the virus.
  • The hospitalization and death numbers could represent overcounts in some states, and undercounts in others.
  • Without an accurate understanding of who is being hospitalized because they are experiencing severe COVID-19 disease, it will be harder for health officials to tailor booster doses and antiviral treatments to those who need them the most.

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What else to read
The COVID-19 Pandemic Will Be Over When Americans Think It Is
By Steven Phillips
How will we know when the COVID-19 pandemic is over in the U.S.? Steven Phillips on how we have to think differently about risk today
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MrBeast Says He's Raising Awareness Over Preventable Blindness. Others Smell Yet Another Stunt
By Moises Mendez II
In a video uploaded on Jan. 29, the creator paid for 1,000 blind people to have surgery to restore their vision
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Here's Why So Many Grocery Store Staples Are So Expensive Right Now
By Nik Popli and Solcyre Burga
Although overall inflation is starting to cool, grocery prices were up 11.8% in December compared with a year earlier
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Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness Has Beef With How the Media Portrays Plant-Based Meat
By John Simons
He took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to bust myths about plant-based meat.
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It May Not Be Long Before We’re All Suffering from Climate Trauma
By Jeffrey Kluger
Depression, anxiety, and distraction are all symptoms of the trauma that comes from experiencing a climate disaster, finds a new study.
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ONE LAST STORY
The cost of staying young forever

What would you do to have the body of a teenager again? One 45-year-old software entrepreneur, Bryan Johnson, is probably doing more than anyone else on Earth to achieve that goal.

In a fascinating piece for Bloomberg, writer Ashlee Vance profiles Johnson, who spends most of his time—and millions of dollars each year—trying to de-age each of his organs. Test results suggest that at least some of what he's doing is working, but what it takes to get there is grueling.

Read More »

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Today's newsletter was written by Alice Park and Mandy Oaklander and edited by Elijah Wolfson.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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