How many Americans are actually dying from COVID-19?

Plus more health news |

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

The Data Don't Give Us an Accurate Measurement of the Number of Americans Dying From COVID-19 By Alice Park Senior Health Correspondent It seems pretty reasonable to expect that when you click on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Data Tracker to find out how many people are hospitalized or die from the disease, you’ll get a pretty accurate measure of who is getting seriously sick from, or dying from it. But it turns out that the numbers aren’t as clear cut as most people, including public health experts, expect. Here’s are some takeaways from what I learned reporting on the issue over the last week: The current national numbers represent a mix of states who report all COVID-19 related hospital admissions, and those who do more detailed analyses to distinguish people who are admitted because of COVID-19 and those who are admitted for other reasons and also test positive for the virus. The hospitalization and death numbers could represent overcounts in some states, and undercounts in others. Without an accurate understanding of who is being hospitalized because they are experiencing severe COVID-19 disease, it will be harder for health officials to tailor booster doses and antiviral treatments to those who need them the most. READ MORE   Share the story

What else to read The COVID-19 Pandemic Will Be Over When Americans Think It Is By Steven Phillips How will we know when the COVID-19 pandemic is over in the U.S.? Steven Phillips on how we have to think differently about risk today Read More » MrBeast Says He's Raising Awareness Over Preventable Blindness. Others Smell Yet Another Stunt By Moises Mendez II In a video uploaded on Jan. 29, the creator paid for 1,000 blind people to have surgery to restore their vision Read More » Here's Why So Many Grocery Store Staples Are So Expensive Right Now By Nik Popli and Solcyre Burga Although overall inflation is starting to cool, grocery prices were up 11.8% in December compared with a year earlier Read More » Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness Has Beef With How the Media Portrays Plant-Based Meat By John Simons He took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to bust myths about plant-based meat. Read More » It May Not Be Long Before We’re All Suffering from Climate Trauma By Jeffrey Kluger Depression, anxiety, and distraction are all symptoms of the trauma that comes from experiencing a climate disaster, finds a new study. Read More »

ONE LAST STORY The cost of staying young forever What would you do to have the body of a teenager again? One 45-year-old software entrepreneur, Bryan Johnson, is probably doing more than anyone else on Earth to achieve that goal. In a fascinating piece for Bloomberg, writer Ashlee Vance profiles Johnson, who spends most of his time—and millions of dollars each year—trying to de-age each of his organs. Test results suggest that at least some of what he's doing is working, but what it takes to get there is grueling. Read More »

If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here. Today's newsletter was written by Alice Park and Mandy Oaklander and edited by Elijah Wolfson.

Want more from TIME? Sign up for our other newsletters. Subscribe to TIME

TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice.   Connect with TIME via Facebook | Twitter | Newsletters       UNSUBSCRIBE     PRIVACY POLICY     YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS   TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508, Boone, IA 50037-0508   Questions? Contact health@time.com   Copyright © 2023 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved.