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31 states have growing rates of new Covid-19 cases, and ‘we know what’s coming next’

October 12, 2020

Once again, most of the country is in trouble.

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A man performs a self-swab at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site at Eastern Florida State College on October 9, 2020 in Palm Bay, Florida. The Florida Department of Health reports that COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations are on the rise while U.S President Donald Trump plans to hold a rally in Sanford, Florida after contracting the disease. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

As of Monday, 31 states have reported more new Covid-19 cases this past week compared to the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

And nine states reported record-high Covid-19 hospitalizations on Sunday, according to the Covid Tracking Project: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

“These are extremely alarming trends, and there should be warning bells going off around the country,” emergency medicine physician Dr.

Understanding Mortality Rates for Black Newborns

October 11, 2020

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Research published late this summer suggests that “newborn–physician racial concordance is associated with a significant improvement in mortality for Black infants,” i.e., when they received care from Black physicians.

Lead author Brad N. Greenwood, PhD, an associate professor at George Mason University School of Business, took time to answer questions about this research.

Did you determine why Black babies have a better chance of survival?

Greenwood: I want to emphasize how cautious we need to be about speculating about the “why” question because it is speculative. This is secondary data so nailing down the exact mechanism is difficult, even if we do see the effect get larger in some places — hospitals that deliver more Black newborns — and smaller in others — Black newborns without comorbidities. But there are several possible explanations:

We want to be careful not to pathologize Black newborns, but there is evidence that Black newborns

Testing positive: New York has among lowest state rates of new COVID-19 cases

October 11, 2020

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New York continues to have one of the nation’s lowest rates of people testing positive for the coronavirus, but experts say recent outbreaks and cooler weather could push those numbers up.

The state had the second-lowest positive test rate in the country, according to Covid Act Now, a nonprofit website run by epidemiologists, public health experts, data scientists and others that analyzes COVID-19 data. In the latest analysis, from Saturday, only Maine, at 0.5%,had a lower rate than New York, which was tied with Vermont for the second-lowest positivity rate of 1.2%. Idaho, with 23.9% of people testing positive, had the highest. The group uses a 7-day rolling average of test results.

In March and April, New York was the epicenter for the pandemic in the United States, with hundreds of residents dying of COVID-19 every day.

“We got from where we were in April because we distanced, we isolated,

Why Black women face high rates of breast cancer

October 11, 2020

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This story originally ran on Today.com.

The day before she turned 30 and had planned to leave for a celebratory vacation, Sharonda Vincent felt a lump on her left breast while in the shower. She scheduled a last-minute appointment with a doctor at Planned Parenthood, who told her to enjoy her trip because she doubted it was cancerous.

After Vincent returned home to Philadelphia, the mother of one decided to see her primary care provider, just in case. This led to a series of tests, including a mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy. In the summer of 2005, she was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer.

“I was numb, hurt, confused, upset, questioning God,” she told TODAY. “It was a complete shock.”

Vincent, now 45, has been cancer-free for 15 years, thanks to the surgery, chemo and radiation she underwent that summer. She’s among the millions of Black women who’ve survived breast

Covid-19 mortality rates are falling worldwide, but scientists worry that may be temporary

October 9, 2020

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Death rates from the novel coronavirus are lower in hot spots around the world, even as new infections accelerate in what may be the pandemic’s next wave. Scientists are confident the change is real, but the reasons for it — and whether it will last — are a matter of intense debate.

“Is this a trend or a blip?” asked Joshua Barocas, an infectious-disease specialist at the Boston University School of Medicine. “Nobody really knows.”

The mortality rate of the coronavirus has been a moving target since the outbreak began.

Early reports out of China put it as high as 7 percent. But that was based mostly on hospitalized patients, and by the time the wave hit the United States, epidemiologists believed it was closer to 2 to 3 percent. Now, factoring in asymptomatic infections, as well as mild cases that might not be part of official tallies, the Centers

Pregnancy rates hit new lows for women 24 and younger, new highs for women 35 and older: study

October 8, 2020

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Pregnancy rates among women aged 24 or younger hit record lows in 2016, while rates for women aged 35 and older reached new highs, according to a new analysis published Thursday by Guttmacher, a sexual and reproductive health research organization.

a person holding a baby: Pregnancy rates hit new lows for women 24 and younger, new highs for women 35 and older: study

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Pregnancy rates hit new lows for women 24 and younger, new highs for women 35 and older: study

Meanwhile, abortion rates have also declined for young people over the past 25 years, partially due to a decline in the number of people in that age group who became pregnant.

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“Pregnancy rates for young people have reached their lowest recorded levels, and both birth and abortion rates among young people are continuing a longstanding decline over the past two-and-a-half decades,” said Guttmacher Senior Research Associate Isaac Maddow-Zimet.

“Conversely, pregnancy rates among older age groups have reached historic highs, with abortion rates remaining fairly constant.”

Guttmacher’s count

Wilmington Coronavirus Rates Rise, Town Upgraded To Yellow

October 8, 2020

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WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington was newly designated a moderate risk, yellow, community in the state’s latest town-by-town coronavirus update, Wednesday. The town has 20 active positives, the Board of Health said Wednesday.

Towns were labeled yellow if they reported more than four confirmed cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks. Wilmington reported 14 new cases, bringing it to 4.1 per 100,000.

According to data released by the Board of Health, 13 of the town’s 20 current coronavirus patients are 30 or under and none are over 60. But the Boarded reported 11 cases at the Care One nursing home, Tuesday, separate from the community count.

Forty communities were labeled high-risk, Wednesday. State rules mean that high-risk communities, plus others that were high-risk in the last two updates, cannot move on to the next phase of reopening. Towns were marked high-risk, or red, if they reported more than eight

U.S. Cities With Highest and Lowest Rates of Uninsured Residents | Cities

October 7, 2020

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With ample job losses since the start of 2020, more Americans are uninsured than in recent memory. Being without health insurance takes on new meaning during the coronavirus pandemic, leaving many Americans more vulnerable than before. According to a report by WalletHub, a personal finance website, nine of the top 10 cities with the highest rates of uninsured residents are in Texas.

The study compared overall insurance rates of 548 U.S. cities from 2019 census data, measuring within the “city proper,” and excluding greater metro areas. Health insurance rates by age, ethnicity and income were also measured.

Washington, D.C., ranked first for large cities with the lowest uninsured rates, with less than 4% of adults being uninsured, followed by Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Honolulu. Houston topped the other end of the list for highest uninsured rates among large cities, with an uninsured rate of more than 28%.

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Baltimore officials fear the coronavirus pandemic will exacerbate another public health issue: STD rates

October 7, 2020

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At first glance, the numbers look promising.

a close up of a bottle: Johns Hopkins University's "I Want The Kit" program allows people to request a personal STD and HIV test kit to conduct on their own. The city has been encouraging residents to use an at-home test kit rather than go to an in-person clinic because of coronavirus.

© Ulysses Muu00f1oz/The Baltimore Sun/The Baltimore Sun/TNS
Johns Hopkins University’s “I Want The Kit” program allows people to request a personal STD and HIV test kit to conduct on their own. The city has been encouraging residents to use an at-home test kit rather than go to an in-person clinic because of coronavirus.

During the first seven months of 2020, according to preliminary data provided by the Baltimore Health Department, reports of sexually transmitted diseases were down in the city. Compared to last year, reports of chlamydia decreased by 20%. Reports of gonorrhea and HIV dropped, too.

But these numbers may be deceiving, thanks in large part to complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic, warned Dr. Adena Greenbaum, assistant commissioner of clinical services at the city’s health department. In fact, she and other sexual health experts are bracing for STD rates to

In a public health crisis, these North Texas cities have some of the worst uninsured rates in the U.S.

October 7, 2020

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Irving has the 7th highest rate of uninsured residents among the midsize U.S. cities sampled in a new study from the personal finance website WalletHub. Elsewhere in North Texas, Garland fared even worse, with the 5th highest rate among the 260 midsize cities in WalletHub’s report, while Mesquite had the 9th highest.

And Dallas, where more than 24 percent of residents are uninsured, has one of the worst uninsured rates of any city in the country. Only Houston has a higher rate among large U.S. cites, according to the study.

More than 22 percent of Irving residents — or roughly 54,000 people — do not have health insurance.

The study compared rates for a total of 548 U.S. cities and 50 states, including a breakdown by age, income level and other demographic information.

Rates of uninsured are the highest among low-income households in Irving, at 35.7 percent, and Hispanic households,