This Week in Coronavirus: September 11 to September 17 | KFF – Kaiser Family Foundation

Heres our recap of thepast week inthe coronaviruspandemicfrom our tracking, policy analysis, polling, and journalism.

With U.S. coronavirus case and death cumulative totals continuing to lead the world, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman wrote a featured essay for The BMJ discussingtwo fundamental policy decisions made by the Trump Administration that set the U.S. on the controversial and highly criticized course it has taken on COVID-19. He writes, The US coronavirus failure was not inevitable and does not have to be permanent. But it is historically aberrant for our federal government to follow and not lead in a national crisis, and equally unusual for our country to divide rather than unify in a time of crisis. Additionally, KFF released an overview of President Trumps record on health care, which features a section on his COVID-19 response.

An analysis by Epic Health Research Network and KFF of 50 million patients records finds disparities for people of color across the spectrum of the COVID-19 pandemic, including higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death. Further, people of color are sicker when they test positive and the disparities in hospitalization and death remain when accounting for underlying health conditions and differences in sociodemographic factors.

As public health officials and policymakers prepare for an eventual COVID-19 vaccine, a Policy Watch post examines flu vaccination rates, highlighting the lower rates among adults of color. Insightsinto the potential barriers and issues that should be addressed as part of a vaccination strategy are discussed.

Global Cases and Deaths:Totalcases worldwide surpassed30 millionthis week withan increase ofapproximately1.9 million new confirmed cases in the past seven days.There wereapproximately35,400new confirmed deaths worldwide, bringing the total to nearly 945,000confirmed deaths.

U.S. Cases and Deaths:Total confirmed cases in the U.S. neared 6.7 million this week.Therewas anapproximateincrease of 278,000confirmed cases betweenSeptember 11 and September 17.Approximately 6,000confirmed deaths in the past week brought the total in the United States toapproximately197,600.

Extensions: GA, IA, MS, WY

Rollbacks: FL, IA, MI, MS, UT

See the rest here:

This Week in Coronavirus: September 11 to September 17 | KFF - Kaiser Family Foundation