The good news is that pregnant women who are infected with COVID-19 aren’t at any greater risk of death than women who aren’t pregnant, according to the CDC.
The worse news is that infected pregnant women are more likely to be hospitalized and are at increased risk for ICU admission and to require mechanical ventilation, according to a CDC study of thousands of women in the U.S. from January to June.
Among women with COVID-19, about 32% of pregnant women were reported to have been hospitalized compared with about 6% of nonpregnant women, the study found.
It’s possible, but not known, that the higher hospitalization rate might be due to doctor’s overall concerns for the health of pregnant women, so they could be more likely to admit them to a hospital, CDC officials said.
Those numbers only represent about 1 in every 10 cases, said Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a press conference Thursday.
While “we’re still in the first wave,” Redfield said the pandemic today looks markedly different from the outbreak two or three months ago, when many deaths were among older people and those with underlying medical conditions.
“For the Fourth of July, which is a family event, we want to emphasize that it’s really important that we get back to being vigilant as our collective commitment … to protect vulnerable friends, family community.”
– Elizabeth Weise and Grace Hauck
1.48M workers file for unemployment
Fewer Americans are seeking unemployment benefits, but the number who need help remains high as the country haltingly reopens its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Last week, 1.48 million workers filed first time claims for unemployment insurance , the Labor Department said Thursday. That latest round of applications means a staggering 47.1 million Americans have made initial jobless benefits claims in just 14 weeks.
Initial jobless claims are the nation’s most reliable gauge of layoffs, and in an investors note Oxford Economics said the latest numbers “paint a picture of a job market in turmoil. Initial claims fell only slightly from last week, reminding us that layoffs in some areas remain widespread.”
– Charisse Jones
Over 1 million dead people received coronavirus stimulus checks
More than 1 million dead people received coronavirus stimulus checks from the federal government after the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service failed to use death records when distributing the first three batches of direct cash payments to Americans, a government watchdog agency reported Thursday.
As a result, nearly 1.1 million payments totaling nearly $1.4 billion were distributed to dead people as of April 30.
Reports of dead people getting stimulus payments surfaced in April when the IRS began making direct deposits of up to $1,200 into taxpayers’ bank accounts. The payments were authorized under a new $2.2 trillion recovery package, known as the CARES Act, designed to help the economy recover from the catastrophic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Treasury Department announced last month that people who received a stimulus payment on behalf of someone who is deceased should return the money immediately.
– Michael Collins
Texas halts reopening plan, suspends elective surgery
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday halted the states reopening plan and suspended elective surgeries in its largest counties in order to expand hospital bed availability for COVID-19 patients.
The state broke its record for hospitalizations for the 13th day in a row and reported 5,551 new cases Wednesday, state health officials reported.
The state is in Phase 3 of Abbott’s plan to reopen, which allowed restaurants to increase occupancy levels to 75% and most businesses to move to 50% occupancy. Abbott declined to roll back those orders.
“The last thing we want to do as a state is go backward and close down businesses,” Abbott said. “This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business.”
The surgery order goes into effect Friday and will require all hospitals in the four designated counties to postpone surgeries and procedures that are not immediately life threatening. The governor can add or discard counties included under the executive order as surges may arise or dissipate within the state.
– Nicole Cobler, Austin American-Statesman
More on the coronavirus from USA TODAY
How is your summer going amid the pandemic? We want to hear from you, especially if you are caring for loved ones. Your story could be featured in our daily news podcast, 5 Things. To share your story, go to coronadiaries.io/usatoday . Choose the first prompt, follow the instructions, and record a brief audio message.
Comments