COVID 19 Weekly Update, August 2021 Archive

by Art and Maura Keene

As Of Monday, May 24, 2021 The Indy’s COVID-19 Daily Update became the COVID-19 Weekly Update. As of Wednesday July 14 ,2021 the Weekly Update moved to Wednesdays. Each Wednesday we will post the latest confirmed case counts for Coronavirus (COVID-19) for Massachusetts, for the nation and for the globe.  

Making Sense of the Numbers
Authorities caution that the confirmed case count is a substantial underestimate of the actual number of cases.  

We rely on well-vetted sources to produce our daily update and draw mostly from the following: Center for Disease Control (CDC), Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), Johns Hopkins University, Yale School of Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Washington Post, New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, STAT News, and the Twitter feeds and/or blogs of Andy Slavitt, Greg Gonsolves, Ezekiel Emanuel, Marc Lipsich, and David Wallace-Wells.

Archives
The Indy began posting COVID-19 Daily Update on March 18, 2020. Here are links to archives of previous months’ posts. March, April , May,  June,  July,  August,  September,  October,  November,  December,  January, February, March 21, April 21, May 21, June 21, July 21
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Henceforth, numbers in parentheses will indicate increase or decrease in count from previous Wednesday.

Numbers in parentheses indicate increase since the previous week.

UPDATE WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25 as of 8 AM
Confirmed Cases in MA – 748,753 (+9,706).
Deaths: 18,195 (+41)
Confirmed Cases in Amherst – 2888 (+19) Currently Active –18 (+2)
UMass: Cumulative Positive Cases: 2565 UMass Dashboard Discontinued Updates On May 15
Source For Amherst – Town Of Amherst Dashboard
Source For UMass UMass Dashboard
Source for Massachusetts: NYT Daily Dashboard
Confirmed Cases in USA – 38,968,925 (+59,096)
Confirmed Deaths – 648,161 (+7980)
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases Worldwide:214,174,539
Deaths: 4,469,005 Source: Worldometers see also: Johns Hopkins University.

News:

Massachusetts Has 3098 New Breakthrough COVID Cases
(NBC Boston)
Massachusetts Will Require Masks In All K-12 Schools
(Boston.com)
Massachusetts Does Not Plan To Track COVID Cases In Schools This Year
(MassLive)
FDA Grants Full Approval For Pfizer-BioNTech COVID. Vaccine
(CNN)
Pfizer Vaccine Full Approval: Why The FDA Took So Long
(The Atlantic)
Policies in Texas And Florida Are Driving Higher Rates Of Death During Delta Wave
(Daily Kos)
US COVID Cases Among Children Have Surged
(CNN)
Teens Now Have Higher COVID Positivity Rate Than Any Other Age Group
(Talking Points Memo)
US COVID Home Testing Results Going Unreported
(Time)
Vaccines Are Less Effective Against Delta Variant But Still Reduce Risk By Two Thirds
(CNN)
Does Vaccine Protection Diminish With Time and Are Boosters The Answer?
(Science)
Pfizer’s COVID Booster Shot Shows Signs Of Taming Delta Variant In Israel
(Reuters)
WHO Calls For Two Month Freeze On COVID Booster Shots Amid Stark Vaccine Inequities
(Democracy Now)
Pfizer CEO: Vaccine Resistant Coronavirus Variant Likely To Occur
(Business Insider)
Dying In The Name Of Vaccine Freedom
(New York Times)
Life In A Half Vaccinated Country
(The New Yorker)
The School Year Is Going To Be A Mess – Again
(The Atlantic)
DIY Air Filters In Classrooms. Experts Are Enthusiastic
(WGBH)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18 as of 8 AM
Confirmed Cases in MA – 739,047 (+8,666).
Deaths: 18,154 (+42)
Confirmed Cases in Amherst – 2869 (+22) Currently Active –16 (+5)
UMass: Cumulative Positive Cases: 2565 UMass Dashboard Discontinued Updates On May 15
Source For Amherst – Town Of Amherst Dashboard
Source For UMass UMass Dashboard
Source for Massachusetts: NYT Daily Dashboard
Confirmed Cases in USA – 37,909,829 (+1,017,544)
Confirmed Deaths – 640,181 (+5619)
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases Worldwide:209,715,314
Deaths: 4,400,144 Source: Worldometers see also: Johns Hopkins University.

News:
Massachusetts Coronavirus Metrics Continue To Rise
(Boston Globe)
Over 12,500 Breakthrough COVID-19 Infections Reported For Massachusetts
(WCVB Boston)
Child COVID-19 Cases Increasing Steadily
(CNN)
No ICU Beds In Alabama. COVID-19 Hospitalizations Have Doubled Nationally In Last Three Weeks
(CNN)
Mississippi Quarantiines 20,000 Students With 5993 Positive For COVID-19. Teen Deaths Rise
(Mississippi Free Press)
Texas Supreme Court Blocks Mask Mandates
(CNN)
COVID-19 Booster Shorts For Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines To Be Available September 20
(USA Today)
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott Tests Positive For Coronavirus
(New York Times)
Florida Hospitals Slammed By COVID Surge
(AP)
Four Teachers In Florida’s Broward Country Die Of COVID-19 Within 24 Hours
(Web MD)
Clinicians Deployed To COVID Hot Zones Overwhelmed By Deaths Among Unvaccinated
(StatNews)
Delta Variant Has Changed The Coronavirus Endgame
(The Atlantic)
The Coronavirus Is Here Forever. This Is How We Will Live With It
(The Atlantic)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY AUGUST 11 as of 8 AM
Numbers in parentheses For August 11 indicate increase since July 28, 2021.
Confirmed Cases in MA – 730,381 (+13,097).
Deaths: 18,112 (+47)
Confirmed Cases in Amherst – 2847 (+22) Currently Active –11 (+11)
UMass: Cumulative Positive Cases: 2565 UMass Dashboard Discontinued Updates On May 15
Source For Amherst – Town Of Amherst Dashboard
Source For UMass UMass Dashboard
Source for Massachusetts: NYT Daily Dashboard
Confirmed Cases in USA – 36,892,285 (+538,357)
Confirmed Deaths – 634,562 (+7211)
Source: Worldometers 
Confirmed Cases Worldwide:204,293,769
Deaths: 4,330,782 Source: Worldometers see also: Johns Hopkins University.

News:
Mask Mandates In Massachusetts. With COVID Cases Rising, These Towns Have Adopted New Mask Mandates
(MassLive)
Massachusetts Reports 2332 New Breakthrough Cases Among 4.9 Million Vaccinated
(WCVB)
How Bad Is The Current COVID Surge In The US?
(CNN)
What To Know About Breakthrough Infections And The Delta Variant
(New York Times)
New Delta Variant Studies Show Pandemic Is Far From Over
(Science News)
What We Know About The Lambda Variant
(CNN)
Here’s Why Now Is One Of The Most Dangerous Times Of The Pandemic For Children
(CNN)
Delta Won’t Be The Last Variant
(The New Yorker)
Delta Variant Is Bad News For Kids
(The Atlantic)
CDC Official Expects More Schools Will Shut Down This Year Because Of COVID Than Last Year
(Business Insider)
Six Answers To Parents’ COVID-19 Questions As Kids Return To Schools
(Science News)
Universal Masking Can Protect Kids From COVID
(New York Times)
Delta Variant Is Sending More Kids To Hospital
(New York Times)
Nearly 94,000 Children Got COVID Last Week
(NPR)
Why Is It Taking So Long To Get Vaccines For Kids?
(The Atlantic)