COVID Remains Focus for Health Officials Despite Rise in Opioid Epidemic
Understandably, COVID continues to be a high priority for healthcare workers, public officials and the media. However, it has also drawn attention away from the opioid epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that more than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses from April 2020 to April 2021, up almost 30% from the 78,000 deaths in the prior year.
HHS Announces Efforts to Help Expand Nationwide Access and Coverage for High-quality Maternal Health Services
As part of Vice President Kamala Harris’s Call to Action to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is taking steps to improve maternal health and support the delivery of equitable, high-quality care for pregnancy and postpartum care. CMS intends to propose a “Birthing-Friendly” designation to drive improvements in perinatal health outcomes and maternal health equity.
Omicron overwhelms news cycle despite scant information
“World, meet omicron,” writes Rachel Gutman in The Atlantic. “Omicron, meet a lot of people who are very, very anxious to know more about you.”
Fauci: 1st US case of COVID-19 omicron variant identified
A person in California who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 became the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant, the White House announced Wednesday as scientists continue to study the risks posed by the new virus strain.
US tracking of virus variants has improved after slow start
After a slow start, the United States has improved its surveillance system for tracking new coronavirus variants such as omicron, boosting its capacity by tens of thousands of samples per week since early this year.
