Data Snapshot
UW Medicine Hospitals:
King County: The county reported 124 new positive cases and 7 new deaths on August 3.
Washington: The state reported 58,715 cases and 1,600 deaths as of August 2. A total of 1,008,822 people have been tested and 5.8% of those tests have been positive.
United States: The CDC reports 4,649,102 cases and 154,471 deaths as of August 3.
Global: WHO reports 18,142,718 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 691,013 deaths as of August 4.
*Numbers update frequently, please follow links for most up-to-date numbers.
Research News
Journal of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery: The Early Effects of COVID-19 on Plastic Surgery Residency Training: The University of Washington Experience
Featuring: Daniel Cho, Jenny Yu, Grace Um, Christina Beck, Nicholas Vedder, Jeffrey Friedrich, Plastic Surgery
“Plastic surgeons have the unique perspective of working with all types of patients and care teams from almost all specialties in surgery and medicine, which creates unique challenges in times of distress. As the initial epicenter of coronavirus disease 2019 cases in the United States, the University of Washington program was required to rapidly develop strategies to deal with the escalating crisis. All aspects of the program were affected, including the need to triage the urgency of plastic surgery care, safe staffing of plastic surgery teams, and the role of plastic surgery in the greater hospital community. In addition, as a residency training program, limiting the impact of resident education and maintaining a sense of community and connection among members of the program developed into important considerations. The authors hope that the narrative of their experience will provide insight into the decisions made in the University of Washington health care system but also remind others that they are not alone in dealing with the challenges of this pandemic.”
UW Medicine in the News
The Seattle Times: Where can you get tested? What does a test cost? … and more answers to your COVID-19 testing questions
Featuring: Vicky Fang, General Internal Medicine
“So, a positive antibody test doesn’t indicate whether you could get infected again, says Dr. Vicky Fang, medical director of UW Medicine primary care and population health. ‘We want to explain this to patients so when and if they receive a positive serology result, they understand that they should not stop using all of the protective measures that we’re asking everyone to use,’ including wearing masks, social distancing, and washing hands, Fang said in a news release this week from UW Medicine. If you are interested in being tested for antibodies, ask your health care provider, who can order a test through the UW Virology Lab or another lab.”
Tri-City Herald: Increasing rate of COVID-19 among younger people
Featuring: Lisa Brandenburg, President; UW Medicine Newsroom
“Lisa Brandenburg, president of UW Medicine Hospitals & Clinics, explains that more people in their 20s and 30s are getting COVID-19, the biggest concern is transmitting it to others in the community.”
Local ABC 24 Memphis: How does the COVID-19 vaccine work?
Featuring: Geoffrey Baird, Laboratory Medicine
“The Moderna Inc. vaccine works by injecting 0.1 milligrams of a lab-engineered piece of Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) into the body. The RNA works like a set of instructions for the body to begin creating antibodies. It does this by creating spike proteins on the outside of some cells to fend off any coronavirus. The spikes look just like the spikes on the outside of the virus that causes COVID-19. The vaccine is being inoculated in two separate doses, each about a month apart. ‘In the vaccine trial, one of the first thing they saw is people felt a little sick,’ explained Baird. ‘They had some chills, some fever, and it made them feel under the weather. And that’s a sign, believe it or not, that it’s working. Your body is building an immune response.’ Baird reiterated that the COVID-19 vaccine does not cause COVID-19.”
PEW Stateline: Lack of Public Data Hampers COVID-19 Fight
Featuring: Ali Mokdad, IHME
Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, has been trying to make sense of this summer’s COVID-19 surge. He says he can theorize only in a general way about why the virus spread and what to do about it. ‘Yes, the new cases appear to be mainly young people,’ he said. ‘Yes, they may be letting down their guard. Yes, it might make sense to close the bars.’ But as a global health expert at the university’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, he says he should be able provide much more nuanced answers. ‘Why can’t we figure out what’s contributing to the recent spread? It is very simple,’ Mokdad said. ‘No access to data.’
The Week: Scientists find first possible animal-to-human spread of COVID. The implications are big
Featuring: Peter Rabinowitz, Global Health
‘“We know that these viruses are capable of mutating,’ said Peter Rabinowitz, a physician who directs the University of Washington Center for One Health Research, which is studying the virus in household pets, told Washington Post. ‘There could be changes in the virus, and these human-animal transmission events could play more of a role in the future, and we have to be more vigilant.”’
Tweet of the Week
How will vaccines, even if not completely effective, help turn the tide on the #COVID19 pandemic? Deborah Fuller @UWMedicine explains the pivot point level of immunity in the population needed for number of infections to decline @ABC @AMitrops @sonysalz https://t.co/57s43h689X
— UW Medicine Newsroom (@uwmnewsroom) July 31, 2020
