Tuesday, September 14, 2021 | Kaiser Health News

NBC News:
California Recall Election Day: Will Voters Kick Gov. Gavin Newsom Out Of Office?

Californians are heading to the polls Tuesday to decide whether or not to remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office, or at least those voters who haven’t already cast a ballot by mail. California’s unusual recall election, triggered when anti-Newsom organizers collected the roughly 1.5 million signatures needed to put him on the ballot again, will ask voters to decide if Newsom should be fired and, if so, to pick a replacement governor from a list of 46 hopefuls alternatives, with firebrand conservative radio host Larry Elder leading in polls. (Seitz-Wald, 9/14)

AP:
Biden: Results Of California Recall Will Be Felt Nationally

President Joe Biden put Democrats’ approach to the coronavirus pandemic on the line Monday, casting the California recall that could remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office as an opportunity for voters to show the nation that “leadership matters, science matters.” “The eyes of the nation are on California because the decision you’re going to make isn’t just going to have a huge impact on California, it’s going to reverberate around the nation, and quite frankly, not a joke, around the world,” the Democratic president said at a rally in the Southern California city of Long Beach. (Ronayne and Blood, 9/14)

CNN:
How The Newsom Recall Could Strengthen The Push For Covid Mandates 

The closely watched California gubernatorial recall election on Tuesday is poised to send precisely the opposite political message that its proponents initially intended. It was a strong gust of discontent in the state’s most conservative regions last year over Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stringent measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic that allowed the recall to qualify for the ballot at all. But now a swell of support in the broader statewide electorate for the more recent steps Newsom has taken to combat the Delta variant outbreak — particularly the vaccine mandates he’s imposed for educators, health care workers and state employees — has positioned him for a potentially resounding victory, according to the latest polls. (Brownstein, 9/14)

Yahoo News:
With Newsom Poised To Win California Recall, Another Indication COVID Politics May Be Starting To Favor Democrats Over Republicans

The verdict could have national implications for both Democrats and Republicans heading into the 2022 midterm elections. “No Republican running for governor could possibly have defeated Gavin Newsom in the recall election, but COVID could have,” Dan Schnur, a former spokesman for Republican former California Gov. Pete Wilson and the late GOP Sen. John McCain who teaches politics at several leading California universities, recently said on Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast. “The reason it’s not is because voters here have come to conclude that he is doing a much better job on it than they’d thought last spring and last winter.” (Romano, 9/13)

CIDRAP:
COVID Cases Drop A Bit In US As Country Torn Over Vaccines, Masks 

The summer surge of COVID-19 cases, which began shortly after the Fourth of July and was instigated by the highly transmissible Delta (B1617.2) variant, is showing signs of waning. Yesterday, the nation reported 33,807 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 279 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker. (Soucheray, 9/13)

KHN:
ICUs Are Filled With Covid — And Regret 

It’s a struggle for Joe Gammon to talk. Lying in his bed in the intensive care unit at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, this month, he described himself as “naive.”  “If I would have known six months ago that this could be possible, this would have been a no-brainer,” said the 45-year-old father of six, who has been in critical condition with covid-19 for weeks. He paused to use a suction tube to dislodge some phlegm from his throat. “But I honestly didn’t think I was at any risk.” (Farmer, 9/14)

But cases among kids are much higher than in July or this time last year —

CNN:
Child Covid-19 Cases Increased Nearly 240% Since July, Pediatricians’ Group Says 

Covid-19 infections have risen “exponentially” among children in the US since July, according to data published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The group reported 243,373 new cases among kids over the past week. While this is a decline from last week, when 251,781 cases were reported, it’s about a 240% increase since early July, when kids accounted for 71,726 cases. “After declining in early summer, child cases have increased exponentially with nearly 500,000 cases in the past two weeks,” AAP said in a statement. (Christensen and Vera, 9/13)

Philadelphia Inquirer:
COVID-19 Cases Among Pa. School-Age Children Are 10 Times Higher Than They Were Last Year

Coronavirus cases among school-age children in Pennsylvania were nearly 10 times greater last week than during the same period in 2020, state health officials said Monday, with local officials saying the rise could be due to a variety of factors, including the highly transmissible delta variant, the return of in-person school, and an increase in testing. Between Sept. 2 and Sept. 8, nearly 5,400 Pennsylvania children between ages 5 and 18 had confirmed infections, according to the state Department of Health, compared to 574 children who were infected during the same week in 2020, when most children were in virtual school and delta was not circulating. (McCarthy and McDaniel, 9/13)

San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID In California: More Than 243,000 Children Were Infected With COVID-19 Last Week

Bay Area school districts aren’t following L.A.’s lead on requiring coronavirus vaccinations and testing for students and staff. More Bay Area restaurants are closing for mental health breaks. And with rapid at-home COVID tests hard to find in the Bay Area, here’s what to look for, and where. Resources on COVID-19 and California’s reopening: For detailed maps and new city-by-city Bay Area data, check out The Chronicle’s Coronavirus Tracker. To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter. (Vaziri, Buchmann, Beamish and Fracassa, 9/13)

In related news about the spread of the coronavirus —

The Washington Post:
Southern California Parents Die Of Covid-19, Leaving Behind Five Children — Including A Newborn 

Davy Macias, 37, was intubated and dying of complications from covid-19 when doctors helped her give birth to her daughter. She would never see her baby. Her husband, Daniel Macias, 39, would only get a brief glimpse of their child because he, too, was hospitalized after contracting the virus. According to Davy’s sister-in-law, Terri Serey, Daniel waited to name the baby girl because he believed he and his wife would walk out of the hospital alive to introduce the newborn to their four other children, the eldest age 7 and the youngest, 2.But about a week after the baby was born, Davy died. Two weeks later, so did Daniel. (Mark, 9/13)

CNN:
Jeff Bridges Details Battle With Covid And Cancer 

Jeff Bridges says his cancer is in remission, and he’s making progress in his fight against the long-term effects of Covid after a tough battle. In a new post to his website, the actor says his cancerous mass is now the “size of a marble” and his Covid “in the rear view mirror” after a struggle that began earlier this year. Bridges believes he caught the virus after being exposed at the facility where he was receiving chemotherapy treatment. He spent five weeks in the hospital, he said, because “my immune system is shot from the chemo.” (Gonzalez, 9/13)

And on misinformation purveyed by trusted sources —

NPR:
COVID Misinformation Pushed By Some Doctors Without Penalty

Last month, Dr. Simone Gold stood before a crowd at a conservative church in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and delivered a talk riddled with misinformation. She told people to avoid vaccination against the coronavirus. As an alternative, she pushed drugs that have not been proven effective at treating COVID-19 — drugs that she also offered to prescribe to the audience in exchange for $90 telehealth appointments. “Don’t text me when you’ve gotten a positive test, I don’t want to hear it,” she said to the gathering. “I’ve told you ahead of time to get the medicines. It can take a week because we’re so swamped.” (Brumfiel, 9/14)

The Washington Post:
Yoga, Organic Food And Misinformation: Wellness Influencers Are Taking The Anti-Vaccine Movement Mainstream 

Glance at Jessica Alix Hesser’s Instagram page and you may feel a little like you’ve just opened up a pamphlet for a meditation retreat. Amid photos of lagoons and a waterfall, Hesser (eyes closed, one hand touching the side of her face) is awash in rainbow-hued lens glare, or soaking in a bath with flowers floating on top. Her website contains blog posts recommending natural cardamom floss and Gregorian chants. Sprinkled throughout, however, are posts where Hesser urges her nearly 37,000 followers to question the safety of the vaccines. “Would you sign your children up to be part of a pharmaceutical trial and take them into a lab to get shot up with some experimental drug created by a criminal company?” she asks in one June post. In another one from April, she writes that “many of you have heard about the large number of poke-free women” experiencing changes in their menstrual cycles “after spending time with people who got the jab.” Medical experts say that’s impossible. Hesser did not respond to requests for comment. (Fetters and De Vynck, 9/12)

Houston Chronicle:
Houston Hospitals Brace For Tropical Storm Nicholas Amid The City’s Largest COVID Surge

Local hospitals and clinics, many of which are close to capacity largely due to unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, [braced] for Tropical Storm Nicholas as it [neared] Houston Monday. Texas Children’s Hospital is no stranger to inclement weather, said Dr. Brent Kaziny, the medical director of emergency management for Texas Children’s Hospital. However, the hospital faces a new set of challenges as the storm rolls in during the highest levels of pediatric COVID cases since he pandemic’s beginning. (Carballo and Gill, 9/13)

Hospitals across the U.S. have staffing shortages —

AP:
Kentucky National Guard Sending 300 Members To Hospitals

The Kentucky National Guard is expanding its role in assisting hospitals during a surge of COVID-19 cases that has stressed the state’s health care infrastructure. The guard is activating 310 additional members in logistical roles to 21 hospitals across the state, the guard said in a media release. The effort began on Monday. (9/14)

AP:
Washington Hospital Execs: Little Capacity To Help Idaho

Washington is facing its own COVID-19 crisis and has little capacity to help neighboring Idaho deal with an overwhelming surge of cases driven by unvaccinated people, state hospital executives and doctors said Monday. Taya Briley, executive vice president of the Washington State Hospital Association, called the situation “very sobering” during a media briefing, saying Washington faces its worst COVID wave since the pandemic began — even before big recent events like fall fairs and a return to school. (Johnson, 9/13)

Billings Gazette:
Hospitals ‘In A Crisis’ With COVID Patients In Overflow Rooms, More Young People Hospitalized

“It’s gotten to the point that we are in a crisis,” said Billings Clinic CEO Dr. Scott Ellner. “The patients we’re seeing are not only sicker, they’re younger, we’re being depleted with our workforce, and we’ve lost several people across health care. People are tired and incredibly frustrated. We’re worried that the public doesn’t understand.” This time last year, Montana was averaging 101 new cases per day and marked the beginning of the state’s initial wave. From September to November 2020, cases increased 1,085%. From July to September 2021, cases have increased 1,514%, according to data from COVID Act Now. (Schabacker, 9/13)

Crain’s Detroit Business:
Shortage Of Workers Causes Henry Ford Health To Eliminate 120 Patient Beds

Henry Ford Health System has reduced the number of patient beds due to a shortage of workers. The system cut about 7 percent, or 120 patient beds, from its five hospitals. The bulk of those lost beds are in Detroit and Jackson, Adnan Munkarah, the system’s chief clinical officer, said Monday in a call with reporters. The loss of beds is a blow to the system as its hospitalization rate continues to rise while the nation battles the dangerous delta variant of COVID-19. (9/13)

WBALTV:
Maryland Hospital Postponing Some Surgeries Amid COVID-19 Spike

Anne Arundel Medical Center has started putting off some non-emergency, elective surgeries until COVID-19 admissions start to decline. COVID-19 patients are currently occupying about 10% of all the hospital beds at AAMC, and more than 70% of them are unvaccinated. “This was a very difficult decision. This was a multi-disciplinary decision made over a period of time where we were watching our numbers,” said Dr. Stephen Selinger, the hospital’s chief medical officer. (9/13)

Axios:
Surgeries Are Getting Delayed Again 

The COVID-19 vaccination rollout led to influxes of patients returning to doctors this summer, but many surgeries are getting postponed again as the Delta variant spreads throughout unvaccinated areas. Medical providers are postponing orthopedic and less-severe outpatient procedures, and device companies are forecasting lower sales in the short term. (Herman, 9/14)