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Covid cases are still on the rise in the U.S., but the pace of infections is showing signs of slowing, especially in some of the states that have been hit hardest by the delta variant. Though cases have climbed to their highest level since January at an average of 152,000 per day over the last week, the pace of the rise in new infections has substantially slowed over the last two weeks, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows. New cases increased by 11% over the last week, almost a third of the seven-day jump of 30% just two weeks ago, according to the data. (Rattner and Towey, 8/26)

The U.S. is projected to see nearly 100,000 more COVID-19 deaths between now and Dec. 1, according to the nation’s most closely watched forecasting model. But health experts say that toll could be cut in half if nearly everyone wore a mask in public spaces. In other words, what the coronavirus has in store this fall depends on human behavior. “Behavior is really going to determine if, when and how sustainably the current wave subsides,” said Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. “We cannot stop delta in its tracks, but we can change our behavior overnight.” (Johnson and Forster, 8/26)

KHN: States Pull Back On Covid Data Even Amid Delta Surge 

Two state government websites in Georgia recently stopped posting updates on covid-19 cases in prisons and long-term care facilities, just as the dangerous delta variant was taking hold. Data has been disappearing recently in other states as well. Florida, for example, now reports covid cases, deaths and hospitalizations once a week, instead of daily, as before. Both states, along with the rest of the South, are battling high infection rates. (Miller, 8/27)

Two state government websites in Georgia recently stopped posting updates on Covid-19 cases in prisons and long-term care facilities, just as the dangerous delta variant was taking hold. Data has been disappearing recently in other states as well. Florida, for example, now reports Covid cases, deaths and hospitalizations once a week, instead of daily, as before. Both states, along with the rest of the South, are battling high infection rates. (Miller, 8/26)

The Florida Hospital Association is sounding the alarm, saying a survey shows 68 hospitals have less than a 48-hour supply of oxygen. Hospitals are using three to four times as much oxygen as they were before the pandemic because more than 17,000 patients are hospitalized statewide with COVID-19. The FHA survey, which was done Wednesday, shows 68 hospitals have less than 48 hours worth of supply, with about half of these have less than 36 hours. (Aboraya, 8/26)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday the state will get 2,500 additional medical personnel from across the country to help alleviate pressure on the state’s health-care system imposed by this summer’s Covid surge. Texas began requesting external assistance just two weeks ago, when Abbott announced that the Texas Department of State Health Services had coordinated a first wave of over 2,500 out-of-state workers to respond to the delta variant. With this latest addition, the state will have approximately 8,100 outside medical personnel, including nurses and respiratory therapists. (Towey, 8/26)

Hospital facilities and public health agencies are scrambling to add capacity as the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise statewide. But many Idaho residents don’t seem to feel the same urgency. Volunteers are helping with contract tracing at the Central District Health Department, and health education classrooms are being converted into COVID-19 treatment units in northern Idaho. On Thursday, some Idaho hospitals only narrowly avoided asking the state to enact “crisis standards of care” — where scarce health care resources are allotted to the patients most likely to benefit — thanks in part to statewide coordination. (Boone, 8/27)

Alaska reported 701 new COVID-19 cases in residents on Thursday, the highest daily count so far this year, and one of the highest since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020. Hospitalizations of COVID-positive patients are also nearing pandemic highs, according to the state hospital association. Thursday’s count of hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 was in the high 140s, according to Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. Alaska’s highest COVID-19 patient count ever was 151 during the winter peak of cases. (Hollander and Krakow, 8/26)

Maine hospitals had roughly 10 percent of intensive care unit beds open on Thursday with an industry leader warning the system was nearing crisis and the state’s largest providers uniting in a rare joint briefing to urge residents to wear masks and get vaccinated. The rise in infections, more of which are resulting in severe cases due to the delta variant, has quickly added stress. As of Thursday, Maine had only 34 unfilled critical care beds, according to Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Nirav Shah. That was down from 52 earlier this week, although that was largely due to an increase in patients without the virus. (Piper, 8/26)

Until last week, North Carolina’s most recent surge of COVID-19 cases had largely spared the state’s prisons. No more. Even as the fast-spreading Delta variant turned the state entirely red on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s community transmission map — denoting “high” rates of spread — the state’s prisons facilities had a modest number of cases. (Thompson, 8/27)

More than 100 coronavirus infections have been linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, an annual event that drew hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts to South Dakota as the virus’s ferocious delta variant spread misery nationwide. Health officials in South Dakota, where the rally was held from Aug. 6 to Aug. 15, said contact tracing has connected 16 cases to the event. North Dakota identified 42 cases, while Wyoming confirmed 32, Wisconsin tallied 20 and Minnesota counted 13. (Shammas, Knowles and Keating, 8/26)