Florida health officials undercounted COVID cases and deaths, audit says
During the early months of the pandemic, Florida’s COVID-19 data was so inaccurate, incomplete and delayed it may not have allowed government officials and the public to determine the effectiveness of the state’s COVID-19 precautions and the best plan to combat the virus, according to a critical state audit released Monday. Covering the state’s pandemic response from March to October 2020, the State Auditor General’s analysis pointed to missing data on cases and deaths, unreported demographic details, and incomplete contact tracing, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Auditors also concluded that routine data checks were not performed to ensure accuracy. A state spokesman disputed the report as flawed.
Nonprofits urge S.F., Breed to reconsider COVID funding cuts
Dozens of nonprofits across San Francisco are asking Mayor London Breed and the city’s public health department to reconsider their abrupt cancellation of funding that has helped thousands of low-income residents cope with COVID-19 during the pandemic. Breed’s $14 billion budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1 eliminates $9.5 million in COVID assistance funding that flows to at least 25 nonprofits across the city, including the Mission Neighborhood Health Center, Excelsior Strong and the Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness. The money has been part of the city’s much-publicized effort to provide an equitable response to COVID so that low-income residents, many of them people of color, could have similar health benefits as wealthier San Franciscans. Read the full story.
New variants likely to keep COVID levels high through the summer
Health experts forecast another wave of breakthrough COVID-19 infections as newer omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 gain ground on the dominant BA.2.12.1 sublineage of the virus. BA.5 made up 7.6% of cases sequenced nationally last week, up from 0.4% for the week ending May 7. BA.4 de up 5.4% of cases nationally, from 0.6% in the same period. “It’s a serious threat,” said Dr. David Ho, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University in New York City, in an email to CNN. His team found a drop in potency against BA.4 and BA.5 in a lab analysis of antibodies from vaccinated and boosted people, as well as those who recovered from breakthrough COVID-19 infections. That means the U.S. could see cases tick back up in the coming weeks and months as the period of reprieve between virus surges grows shorter. The good news? Vaccines are still effective at preventing the worst outcomes. “I think we will see lots of infections but not necessarily more severe disease or deaths,” Ho said.
Alameda County reports first suspected monkeypox case
Health officials have identified the first suspected case of monkeypox in Alameda County, in an individual who had close contact with someone who had earlier tested positive for the virus. The case would be the second in the Bay Area, and the eighth in California. The first Bay Area case was reported last Friday in a San Francisco resident. At least 40 cases have been reported in the United States. Read more here.
