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Data Snapshot

UW Medicine Hospitals:

King County: The county reported 673 new positive cases and 10 new deaths on Dec. 2.

Washington: The state reported 170,342 cases and 2,850 deaths as of Dec. 1.

United States: The CDC reports 13,822,249 cases and 272,525 deaths as of Dec. 1.

Global: WHO reports 63,965,092 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,488,120 deaths as of Dec. 3.

*Numbers update frequently, please follow links for most up-to-date numbers.

COVID-19 Literature Situation Report

COVID-19 Literature Situation Report is a daily (M-F) newsletter put together by the Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness that provides a succinct summary of the latest scientific literature related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Takeaways: COVID-19 Literature Situation Report Dec. 1, 2020

  • SARS-CoV-2 may have been introduced in the US earlier than previously recognized based on the detection of antibodies reactive to SARS-CoV-2 found in archived samples from routine blood donations in 9 states from December 2019 and January 2020. More
  • A cross-sectional study representing 34 million US adults found that receiving unemployment benefits was associated with a lower likelihood of having unmet health-related social needs, delaying healthcare, and experiencing depressive and anxiety symptoms. More
  • A US-based model using a scenario with 40% vaccination coverage that prioritizes healthcare workers and high-risk individuals and excludes children under 18 could reduce the SARS-COV-2 attack proportion to 1.6% and decrease hospitalizations and deaths by 85% and 88%, respectively. More 

You can read more literature reports from the COVID-19 Literature Surveillance Team, an affiliated group of medical students, PhDs, and physicians keeping up with the latest research on SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19. Here’s their latest report: Dec. 2 | Daily COVID-19 LST Report.

UW Medicine in the News

New York Times: Virus May Have Arrived in U.S. in December, but Didn’t Spread Until Later 
Featuring: Trevor Bedford, genome sciences
“At least one prominent virus researcher was wary of how the findings were interpreted online and in news reports. Trevor Bedford, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington who has been deeply involved in genetic studies of how, when and where the virus has spread, said in a series of tweets that he thought the study could be identifying people who had antibodies to other human coronaviruses, which cause common colds, although he did not rule out that it may have picked up some cases of travelers infected in other countries.”

Seattle Magazine: 25 Most Influential People in Seattle 2020 
Featuring: Chris Murray, IHME
“You may have seen Dr. Chris Murray on CNN or Fox News. Maybe it was in the New York Times, or, closer to home, on KOMOnews.com or King5.com. Murray, a health economist and physician, founded the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent global research center that has become a valuable and trusted source of information on the coronavirus. IHME’s coronavirus projections and advice are cited virtually every day by news organizations, health professionals and politicians across the country. The institute assesses the cost-effectiveness of health technologies, works to measure health issues across the world and evaluates strategies to solve them. Murray also serves as an adjunct professor, global health and health services, and is a health metrics sciences professor.”

Tri-City Herald: A front-line perspective on COVID-19’s impending spike 
Featuring: Sachita Shah, emergency medicine
“Dr. Sachita Shah, an emergency medicine doctor at Harborview Medical Center, has been on the COVID-19 front line since the first cases emerged in Washington state.”

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