A version of this story appeared in the October 21 edition of CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction newsletter. Sign up here to receive the need-to-know headlines every weekday.
The pandemic has caused nearly 300,000 excess deaths in the US so far since late January – about two-thirds of which were attributed to Covid-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Experts believe excess deaths is a more comprehensive measure of the total impact of the outbreak, capturing Covid-19 deaths that may not have been correctly diagnosed, or those who died from other causes that could be attributed to the crisis. According to the CDC report, groups with the biggest jump in excess deaths, percentage-wise, have been adults aged 25 to 44, and Hispanic people, Jason Hanna and Christina Maxouris report.
This comes as US President Donald Trump continues to downplay the pandemic on the campaign trail despite officials warning of a fast-worsening situation. Hospitalizations are rising and the country topped 60,000 new infections yesterday – triple what the daily average was back in June, when restrictions had begun to ease. “It’s going to be a difficult fall and winter,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the FDA, told CNBC on Monday. “I think we’re about two or three weeks behind Europe – so we’re about a week away from starting to enter a period where we’re going to see a rapid acceleration in cases.”l
The bleak outlook will also take a toll on the mental health of the nation. Americans need to be mindful of this as the next few months could be “one of the darkest chapters in modern American history,” Peter Hotez, Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN. “We could be looking at a doubling of the number of deaths by the week after the inauguration. This is tough stuff,” he said. “Get ready for it, but just remember it will get better.”
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED
Q. How is the pandemic affecting sleep?
A: The pandemic is affecting sleep in a number of ways.
A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 36% of Americans reported difficulty sleeping this summer due to stress about the pandemic. Sleep specialist Matthew Walker told CNN that economic instability and anxiety about catching the virus has significantly contributed to an increase in sleep disruption.
But it’s not all bad news. Some people’s sleep has actually slightly increased, Walker said. Initial results from a survey conducted by Australia’s Monash University found that 42% of people said they were getting better sleep, reporting sleep-wake behavior more in line with their body clocks. These findings will be published later this year.
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WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
Covid-19 has created a ‘shadow pandemic’ for domestic abuse victims
The Covid-19 pandemic is causing another crisis: an explosion of domestic abuse on a global scale. As more people have to stay home, many victims are locked in with their abusers, and some domestic abuse support services have been put on hold.
France saw a 42% year-on-year jump in the number of domestic violence interventions during lockdown. In Venezuela, there was a 65% increase in femicides for the month of April compared to the same month in 2019. And calls to a women’s hotline went up more than 500% in Uganda.
Read more about what the United Nations has described as a “shadow pandemic” in our special report.
India is facing a double health threat this winter: pollution and the pandemic
In New Delhi, smog from burning crop fields, vehicular emissions, power plants, construction sites and smoke from Diwali firecrackers combine to create a toxic cloud that will linger until spring.
Authorities have been trying for years to combat this serious public health risk – but there’s a new urgency this year, with fears that pollution could compound the danger of Covid-19, as Jessie Yeung, Esha Mitra and Vedika Sud report.
The pandemic is speeding up automation, and 85 million jobs are on the line
Bank tellers are out and robotics engineers are in, according to a new report which says the coronavirus-driven recession is accelerating technological changes that could displace 85 million jobs within the next five years, Hanna Ziady reports.
“Automation, in tandem with the Covid-19 recession, is creating a ‘double disruption’ scenario for workers,” said the report by the World Economic Forum, which warns that inequality is likely to increase unless displaced workers can be retrained to enter new professions.
ON OUR RADAR
- The Czech Republic is bringing back a mask mandate that saved it from Covid-19 in spring. But is it too late?
- Cathay Pacific is cutting thousands of jobs and eliminating its Cathay Dragon airline as Covid-19 weighs on travel.
- Time is running short for a pre-Election Day coronavirus stimulus deal in the US.
- The LA Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the first game of the World Series. Here’s everything you need to know about the climax of baseball’s pandemic-shortened season.
- All University of Michigan students are now under an emergency stay-in-place order amid a spike in cases.
- A Texas woman died of Covid-19 on a plane in July.
- Locust swarms are spreading across Ethiopia, aided by heavy rains and the pandemic.
TODAY’S TOP TIP
Feeling stressed about Covid-19? Meditate with Anderson Cooper
Mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn led Cooper through a short guided meditation, a discipline which he said can help bring calm in these turbulent times. Watch the full video here.
TODAY’S PODCAST
“It’s like we’re driving down a one-lane highway. We see a car accident in front of us and we see the off ramp. And for some reason, we thought going through the car accident was the better idea.” – Dr. Ross Goldberg, President of the Arizona Medical Association
Confusion about mask wearing is rampant in the US. The messaging from scientists about the importance of masks is being distorted by noise and conflicting approaches at every level. In today’s episode, CNN’s Evan McMorris-Santoro takes a hyper-local look at the divide over masks in a single community. Listen Now.