UW Medicine Hospitals:
King County: The county reported 180 new positive cases and 2 new deaths on Oct. 26.
Washington: The state reported 103,500 cases and 2,321 deaths as of Oct. 25.
United States: The CDC reports 8,617,022 cases and 224,601 deaths as of Oct. 26.
Global: WHO reports 43,147,494 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,155,553 deaths as of Oct. 27.
*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 Oct. 23, 2020
- Universal mask wearing in the United States could save an additional 129,574 lives from September 22 through the end of February 2021, or 85% mask use could save an additional 95,814 lives when compared to a reference scenario in a model from IHME. More.
- US counties with greater social vulnerability were more likely to become COVID-19 hotspots. More.
- Survey responses from primary election poll workers in Delaware indicated that SARS-CoV-2 mitigation measures had been widely implemented at polling places and that most poll workers surveyed had good knowledge about preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, although 72% reported being within 6 feet of more than 100 people on election day. More.
UW Medicine in the News
CNBC: ‘Wear your masks, watch your distance, wash your hands’: Dr. Ali Mokdad on combatting COVID-19
Featuring: Ali Mokdad, IHME
“Dr. Ali Mokdad, professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, joins Shep Smith to discuss the Covid death model which shows if everyone wears a mask, we could save more than 150,000 lives.”
USA Today: US tops one-day record with 83,757 COVID-19 cases, exceeding previous summer high
Featuring: Christopher Murray, IHME
“The U.S. topped the one-day record for new coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data, surpassing the previous summer high. At the height of the surge, on July 16, the U.S. saw more than 77,362 reported new cases of COVID-19. On Friday, the U.S. reached 83,757 new daily cases, according to by Johns Hopkins University. The news comes on the heels of a study by the University of Washington School of Medicine that projected more than 500,000 Americans could die by the end of February in part because of the nation’s current patchwork of COVID-19 mandates and the inconsistent use of masks to prevent virus spread. ‘We are heading into a very substantial fall-winter surge,’ said Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. ‘We expect that surge to steadily grow throughout different states, and at the national level continue to increase as we head towards quite high levels of daily death in late December and January.’”
KING 5 (and others): UW researchers find hydroxychloroquine does not prevent people from getting COVID-19
Featuring: Ruanne Barnabas, Immunology
“University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine has officially taken the stance that hydroxychloroquine does not prevent COVID-19. The medication was suggested by President Donald Trump to possibly prevent the virus. Saturday, researchers at the UW School of Medicine in Seattle presented the results of a nationwide study looking at hydroxychloroquine. The UW study started in March, pairing with the Gates Foundation and other research institutions across the country. They enrolled 781 participants who had recently been exposed to COVID-19. In 80% of the cases, people were living with someone who had tested positive, according to the study. Half the group took hydroxychloroquine, the other half a placebo for 14 days from the time of exposure. Preliminary data showed participants who took hydroxychloroquine were just as likely to get COVID-19 as were those who received a placebo. ‘We found that the number of people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 was the same in both groups so we were able to interpret the findings to say hydroxychloroquine does not have any significant prevention effect for COVID-19,’ said lead researcher Dr. Ruanne Barnabas, associate professor of medicine and global health at the UW School of Medicine.”
Read more on this topic in the The Seattle Times: Gates-funded UW study shows hydroxychloroquine doesn’t prevent COVID-19, featuring Ruanne Barnabas, Allergy & Infectious Diseases.
Tweet of the Week
Young people who may be sick or minimally symptomatic, even with no symptoms, they can still spread this to family members, says Dr. Paul Pottinger @UWMedicine It’s a threat to everyone. Please mask and social distance.@PaulPottingerMD @abbyacone https://t.co/UHbIC2eb2X
— UW Medicine Newsroom (@uwmnewsroom) October 27, 2020
