Thread by @DrTomFrieden

1/ Another Friday evening, another moment to reflect. And mourn. And be angry beyond words.

CDC COVID-VIEW comes out on Fridays. It’s a refreshing break from the amateur, uninformed epidemiology from so many sources. bit.ly/2XdezoQ

2/ So, so much to mourn. The unspeakable brutality and horror of the murder of George Floyd. 250+ years of injustice. First 100,000 deaths from #COVID19 in US. Self-destructive US withdrawal from WHO. Anger. Tears. Helplessness. Determination to persist. bit.ly/2zMpSv4

3/ Let’s be clear. COVID is just beginning. Within a month there will be at least another 20,000 deaths in the US. Seven World Trade Centers. Globally, 1 million recorded deaths in the coming months. We must insist on weekly mortality reporting. bit.ly/2AlOdrE

4/ In Africa and elsewhere, we could lose 10x more people from the disruption Covid causes than from Covid. We can prevent this. Here's how: bit.ly/3gF7fKu

5/ Back to COVID-VIEW. bit.ly/2XdezoQ

6/ First 3 insights:

Positivity of specimens is decreasing. That’s good. More tests, fewer infections, or both.

Slight increase in northwest and southeast. Not definitive but bears close watch.

The test positivity rate is decreasing -- except among children.

7/ What’s happening with children and Covid? Look at the gray line. @CDCgov reported this trend last week, and this week it’s even more striking.

8/ There’s that same trend in test results from commercial laboratories. See the gray and orange lines.

9/ Could it be that by isolating patients at home, we’re infecting lots of kids? In many countries, people with #COVID19 are provided safe and appealing housing outside of their homes.

10/ Next insight. CDC comment: Changes in healthcare-seeking behavior, increased use of telemedicine, compliance with recommendations to limit emergency department visits, and increased distancing reduce the number of people seeking care. People not seeking care - dangerous.

11/ Steady reduction in visits for flu-like illness. Good. First wave of Covid is abating in most of the country.

12/ What’s going on in Wisconsin? Time will tell.

13/ Steady decrease in both flu-like and COVID-like illness. Encouraging.

14/ The next section of the report is on cumulative hospitalization rates. Kids are 100x less likely to be hospitalized than older people. For kids, this is like a flu season. For older adults and people with underlying health problems, it’s like the 1918 pandemic.

15/ Next, data on hospitalization rates by race/ethnicity. African American and Native Americans have more than 4x the rate of white Americans, and Latinx more than 3x the rate.

16/ “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

17/ Higher mortality results from more exposure though essential jobs and crowding, more severe health problems before Covid, and less access to health care. We must change this reality.

18/ Next, deaths. Stunning figure. At the peak, as many as 1 out of every 4 deaths in the U.S. may have been from Covid. Because we’re joining together to stay apart, infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are falling dramatically.

19/ Tracking the most important trends, reopening without rekindling, shielding the vulnerable...all essential to health and economic recovery.

END of thread. END of the beginning of the pandemic in the United States.