Iowa news
Meet Linn County’s first health equity program manager, Anne Harris Carter
The fact Anne Harris Carter’s new job is based in a building named after her parents is not only surreal, but also represents “tremendous responsibility” for her new role at Linn County Public Health. As the first-ever health equity program manager at the county public health department, Carter said it’s now her responsibility to demonstrate county officials “are serious about making change.” In this new role, Carter will lead Linn County Public Health’s efforts to address structural barriers to health across the county, which will include developing programs and initiatives internally or with other community organizations. (The Gazette)
Fewest COVID-19 hospitalizations in two years, but cases are rising
Fewer people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa this month than at any point in the previous two years. The Iowa Department of Public Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 33 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa, the fewest since March 26, 2020 — which was just four days after the state began reporting that number publicly at the start of the pandemic. It’s lower than last year’s lowest number of hospitalizations: 46, set in June. And it’s less than half of the 74 reported last week. (Des Moines Register)
Emily Mendenhall is a medical anthropologist, and is originally from a small town in Iowa. When that town — Okoboji — became a COVID-19 hotspot, Mendenhall sprung into work and conducted interviews with more than 100 people in the area during the summer and fall of 2020. The work resulted in her book, “Unmasked: COVID, Community and the Case of Okoboji.” (Iowa Public Radio)
National news
Health care workforce on track to recover from pandemic — with a few key exceptions, study finds
The U.S. health care workforce had a huge turnover at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but seems to be getting back to pre-pandemic levels, although it’s not there yet, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota compared turnover rates between April-December 2020 and January-October 2021, using records from the U.S. Current Population Survey, along with records from the U.S. Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They looked at records on 125,717 health care workers. (KCCI)
‘Get used to it’: Outbreaks give taste of living with virus
The U.S. is getting a first glimpse of what it’s like to experience COVID-19 outbreaks during this new phase of living with the virus, and the roster of the newly infected is studded with stars. Cabinet members, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Broadway actors and the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut have tested positive. Outbreaks at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University are bringing back mask requirements to those campuses as officials seek out quarantine space. The outbreaks in the Northeast may signal what’s to come. But case counts are no longer reliable because official testing and reporting has been scaled back and more Americans are testing at home. (Modern Healthcare)
How does the COVID-19 pandemic end? History and biology help provide the answer.
A frequent topic of discussion lately is how the COVID-19 pandemic ends. As is usual when trying to predict the future, the near-term is pretty much anybody’s guess. The longer-term view is clearer: COVID-19 will become incorporated into our lifecycle, just like the other four coronaviruses. Yes, you read that right. There are already four coronaviruses in the human population: 229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1. These are a few of the viruses that cause the common cold. (I’m easing back on terminology here: 229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1 = “Coronavirus 1-4.” “Coronavirus 5” = COVID-19. Just easier.) Donald Trump may have spoken clumsily, but he was right when he said that COVID-19 is just a common cold. That is what it eventually will become. The “eventually” part is the problem. (Des Moines Register)