vox--2020-07-24--Child care is broken. Biden has a plan to fix it.

As Covid-19 runs rampant across California , sickening hundreds of thousands of people , Rosa Carreño ’ s day care in San Jose has remained open through it all .
“ All of us were scared , ” Carreño told Vox .
It was “ a situation that could put my own family at risk.
” But , she said , “ we become family with the families that we take care of , ” some of which have included essential workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic .
“ For me , closing was not an option @ @ @ @ @ @ @ felt my responsibility was to be there for them.
” But staying open has come with many challenges .
Carreño has had to purchase extra cleaning supplies and remove carpets from the day care in order to make the facility safer and comply with new regulations .
Even some of the stuffed animals had to go .
She had to “ figure out a way to continue still having the child care and having fun with the children , but minimizing the risk , ” she said .
New supplies and safety procedures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t seen enrollment drop , other providers around the country have — and many are struggling to afford those extra costs on decreased revenue .
A recent survey of California providers by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment ( CSCCE ) found that 77 percent of open child care programs have lost income due to the pandemic , and 80 percent have faced higher costs associated with cleaning requirements .
Many providers fear catching Covid-19 at work but can ’ t afford to close down even for a short @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found that 30 percent of centers would have to shut down permanently if forced to close for two weeks or more .
To help child care providers like Carreño stay afloat , many experts have called for a bailout of the child care industry , estimating that providers around the country need about $ 50 billion to keep paying their expenses amid lower revenues and potential temporary closures .
Now presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has made such a bailout part of a larger proposal — which also includes provisions to boost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to unionize — to help America ’ s caregivers .
“ If we truly want to reward work in this country , we have to ease the financial burden of care that families are carrying , ” Biden said Tuesday during a speech announcing the plan .
“ And we have to elevate the compensation , benefits , and dignity of caregiving workers and early childhood educators.
” Reforms like the ones Biden proposed are essential , workers and their advocates say .
And with the pandemic focusing more attention on the importance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time is ripe .
However , actually passing such broad-based reform will require voters and policymakers to understand and accept the enormity of the task at hand .
“ Public awareness has spiked , ” CSCCE director Lea Austin told Vox .
“ The challenge will be translating that awareness into an understanding of what is needed and the level of resources that are really necessary.
” Child care in America “ is a system that has not worked very well for anybody , ” even before Covid-19 , Austin said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ well for children , for families , or for the people who are providing services and working in these programs.
” For many families , child care is unaffordable , costing more than $ 1,000 a month in many states .
It ’ s also extremely expensive to provide : Quality care requires low caregiver-to-child ratios and strict safety protocols , even in normal times — not to mention overhead costs like rent and food for children .
Even with fees that are punishingly high for many parents , many programs struggle , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on hand for emergencies , and they often pay staff poverty-level wages and offer no benefits .
Child care workers nationwide make an average hourly wage of just $ 10.82 , and some earn far less .
More than half rely on some form of public assistance to get by , and they ’ re more likely than other workers to lack health insurance and paid sick leave .
Low pay for workers also affects the quality of care that kids receive .
Children do best with a consistent caregiver , but low @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Allvin , CEO of the National Association for the Education of Young Children ( NAEYC ) , told Vox .
Kids also benefit from having caregivers who are trained in child development and early education , but “ if you make $ 10.40 an hour without a BA and then you make $ 11.40 with a BA , there ’ s no incentive to be grounded in the science of early learning , ” Allvin said .
All of these problems existed before the coronavirus hit — and now , child care programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Many parents have pulled their children out , leading to a drop in revenue .
In some cases , new physical distancing requirements have also limited the number of kids that programs can take .
“ We had 150+ students , ” one provider said in response to the California survey .
“ Now the most we can have is 48.
” Meanwhile , everything is more expensive , from cleaning supplies to new requirements such as making sure children play and nap at an appropriate distance from each other .
Forty-nine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care centers have been unable to pay themselves at least part of the time , and 34 percent have taken on credit card debt to stay afloat , the CSCCE survey found .
And even getting the right cleaning products and protective equipment like masks has been a challenge , with 38 percent of providers saying they were unable to obtain the supplies they needed in the previous month .
Providers in California , where Covid-19 cases continue to rise , are scared of getting the virus at work , with 38 percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 38 percent reporting concern for their family members .
But many providers can ’ t afford to close , even if they ’ re scared — among programs that remain open , 80 percent said they were still operating because they lack the financial resources to survive a closure .
The combination of high costs and low enrollment , however , could force many programs to close permanently in the coming months .
In a nationwide survey conducted by the NAEYC in June , an overall two out of five respondents — and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — said they are certain they ’ ll have to close if they don ’ t get some kind of government help .
Only 18 percent of programs said they expected to last longer than a year without public support .
Biden has a plan to help child care workers — now and in the future For this reason , many child care advocates have called for a bailout of the industry .
Members of Congress , including Sen. Elizabeth Warren , have proposed including such a bailout in larger Covid-19 relief packages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passed .
Now Biden is making relief for child care centers part of his larger caregiving plan , which he unveiled on Tuesday in New Castle , Delaware .
“ As a first step , Biden will immediately provide states , tribal , and local governments with the fiscal relief they need to keep workers employed and keep vital public services running , including direct care and child care services , ” states the campaign document outlining the plan .
( The campaign did not provide specifics on the among of relief the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) But the former vice president also promises to go beyond the immediate crisis and invest in child care for the future .
His plan would provide free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds in the country .
And for kids under the age of 3 , the plan would create a system of tax credits and subsidies so that families earning less than 1.5 times the median income in their state would pay no more than 7 percent of their income for child care , with “ the most-hard pressed working families @ @ @ @ @ @ @ includes tax credits to encourage employers to construct onsite child care facilities , something companies did during World War II that ’ s become harder to imagine today , as families ( most often mothers ) are expected to handle child care on their own .
The proposal would also boost worker pay to the level of elementary school teachers , as well as provide workers with health insurance , paid sick leave , and affordable care for their own children .
It also outlines steps to protect workers ’ rights to unionize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something they ’ ve won in some states ( including California ) but not all .
The proposal “ is about easing the squeeze on working families who are raising their kids and caring for aging loved ones at the same time , ” Biden said Tuesday .
“ And it ’ s about creating jobs with better pay and career pathways for caregivers , and showing them the dignity and respect that they deserve.
” Child care workers and advocates have praised the tenets of Biden ’ s plan .
The proposal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a universal system of early care and education in this country , ” CSCCE ’ s Austin said .
“ What ’ s really important about what Biden has proposed is addressing the conditions of [ the ] workforce and calling attention to how low the wages are , and how that is really linked to both educator well-being and the well-being of children.
” The reforms Biden has proposed “ would be excellent news for everyone ” in the child care workforce , Carreño said .
“ It ’ s been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a first priority.
” Supporting child care workers over the long term will require the political will to listen to their needs Still , some say a potential Biden administration won ’ t come soon enough for the aid the industry needs .
“ It ’ ll be too late for a bailout in January , ” NAEYC ’ s Allvin said .
“ We need that money now.
” Even if Biden wins the election , real , widespread change will require a sustained commitment from policymakers and the public to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need .
During the pandemic , “ People have realized how critical child care is , ” Austin said .
But as parents across the country struggle with months of caring for kids while also trying to do their jobs — and as many stare down confirmed or anticipated school closures in the fall — there ’ s been a focus on child care as a solution without regard to the safety or interests of child care workers .
“ Somehow the burden has fallen on child care to be the answer for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to work , rather than really examining what we should be doing right now to make sure that workers across occupations can sustain themselves , ” Austin said .
“ It ’ s this invisibility of the people who are actually doing child care that has allowed the workers and their own well-being to be missing from this conversation.
” Biden ’ s plan is a step in the right direction for workers , many say .
And around the country , workers themselves are making their own voices heard , joining together @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights .
More than 40,000 child care providers in California were granted collective bargaining rights last year , and this week , workers around the state are voting on whether to officially join the Child Care Providers United union .
If the vote succeeds ( as is expected ) , “ We will be able to have a voice , ” Carreño said .
“ We will be able to sit down at the bargaining table ” and draft a contract with the state that includes better pay and benefits .
“ Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are essential , ” Carreño said , “ and our country really needs to invest in the caregiving workforce and give us the legal protections that we need.
” Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

As Covid-19 runs rampant across California, sickening hundreds of thousands of people, Rosa Carreño’s day care in San Jose has remained open through it all.
“All of us were scared,” Carreño told Vox. It was “a situation that could put my own family at risk.”
But, she said, “we become family with the families that we take care of,” some of which have included essential workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
“For me, closing was not an option,” Carreño said. “I felt my responsibility was to be there for them.”
But staying open has come with many challenges. Carreño has had to purchase extra cleaning supplies and remove carpets from the day care in order to make the facility safer and comply with new regulations. Even some of the stuffed animals had to go. She had to “figure out a way to continue still having the child care and having fun with the children, but minimizing the risk,” she said.
New supplies and safety procedures cost money, and although Carreño hasn’t seen enrollment drop, other providers around the country have — and many are struggling to afford those extra costs on decreased revenue. A recent survey of California providers by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) found that 77 percent of open child care programs have lost income due to the pandemic, and 80 percent have faced higher costs associated with cleaning requirements. Many providers fear catching Covid-19 at work but can’t afford to close down even for a short period — a survey earlier this year found that 30 percent of centers would have to shut down permanently if forced to close for two weeks or more.
To help child care providers like Carreño stay afloat, many experts have called for a bailout of the child care industry, estimating that providers around the country need about $50 billion to keep paying their expenses amid lower revenues and potential temporary closures. Now presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has made such a bailout part of a larger proposal — which also includes provisions to boost workers’ pay and strengthen their power to unionize — to help America’s caregivers.
“If we truly want to reward work in this country, we have to ease the financial burden of care that families are carrying,” Biden said Tuesday during a speech announcing the plan. “And we have to elevate the compensation, benefits, and dignity of caregiving workers and early childhood educators.”
Reforms like the ones Biden proposed are essential, workers and their advocates say. And with the pandemic focusing more attention on the importance of child care than ever before, the time is ripe.
However, actually passing such broad-based reform will require voters and policymakers to understand and accept the enormity of the task at hand. “Public awareness has spiked,” CSCCE director Lea Austin told Vox. “The challenge will be translating that awareness into an understanding of what is needed and the level of resources that are really necessary.”
America’s child care system was broken long before Covid-19
Child care in America “is a system that has not worked very well for anybody,” even before Covid-19, Austin said. “It hasn’t worked particularly well for children, for families, or for the people who are providing services and working in these programs.”
For many families, child care is unaffordable, costing more than $1,000 a month in many states. It’s also extremely expensive to provide: Quality care requires low caregiver-to-child ratios and strict safety protocols, even in normal times — not to mention overhead costs like rent and food for children. Even with fees that are punishingly high for many parents, many programs struggle, Austin said.
They have little cash on hand for emergencies, and they often pay staff poverty-level wages and offer no benefits. Child care workers nationwide make an average hourly wage of just $10.82, and some earn far less. More than half rely on some form of public assistance to get by, and they’re more likely than other workers to lack health insurance and paid sick leave.
Low pay for workers also affects the quality of care that kids receive. Children do best with a consistent caregiver, but low pay leads to high turnover, Rhian Allvin, CEO of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), told Vox. Kids also benefit from having caregivers who are trained in child development and early education, but “if you make $10.40 an hour without a BA and then you make $11.40 with a BA, there’s no incentive to be grounded in the science of early learning,” Allvin said.
All of these problems existed before the coronavirus hit — and now, child care programs and their workers are squeezed even further. Many parents have pulled their children out, leading to a drop in revenue. In some cases, new physical distancing requirements have also limited the number of kids that programs can take. “We had 150+ students,” one provider said in response to the California survey. “Now the most we can have is 48.”
Meanwhile, everything is more expensive, from cleaning supplies to new requirements such as making sure children play and nap at an appropriate distance from each other. Forty-nine percent of providers who operate family child care centers have been unable to pay themselves at least part of the time, and 34 percent have taken on credit card debt to stay afloat, the CSCCE survey found. And even getting the right cleaning products and protective equipment like masks has been a challenge, with 38 percent of providers saying they were unable to obtain the supplies they needed in the previous month.
Providers in California, where Covid-19 cases continue to rise, are scared of getting the virus at work, with 38 percent saying they are concerned for themselves and 38 percent reporting concern for their family members. But many providers can’t afford to close, even if they’re scared — among programs that remain open, 80 percent said they were still operating because they lack the financial resources to survive a closure.
The combination of high costs and low enrollment, however, could force many programs to close permanently in the coming months. In a nationwide survey conducted by the NAEYC in June, an overall two out of five respondents — and half of all minority-owned child care providers — said they are certain they’ll have to close if they don’t get some kind of government help. Only 18 percent of programs said they expected to last longer than a year without public support.
Biden has a plan to help child care workers — now and in the future
For this reason, many child care advocates have called for a bailout of the industry. Members of Congress, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have proposed including such a bailout in larger Covid-19 relief packages — but so far, nothing has passed.
Now Biden is making relief for child care centers part of his larger caregiving plan, which he unveiled on Tuesday in New Castle, Delaware. “As a first step, Biden will immediately provide states, tribal, and local governments with the fiscal relief they need to keep workers employed and keep vital public services running, including direct care and child care services,” states the campaign document outlining the plan. (The campaign did not provide specifics on the among of relief the candidate would make available if elected.)
But the former vice president also promises to go beyond the immediate crisis and invest in child care for the future. His plan would provide free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds in the country. And for kids under the age of 3, the plan would create a system of tax credits and subsidies so that families earning less than 1.5 times the median income in their state would pay no more than 7 percent of their income for child care, with “the most-hard pressed working families” paying nothing.
The plan also includes tax credits to encourage employers to construct onsite child care facilities, something companies did during World War II that’s become harder to imagine today, as families (most often mothers) are expected to handle child care on their own.
The proposal would also boost worker pay to the level of elementary school teachers, as well as provide workers with health insurance, paid sick leave, and affordable care for their own children. It also outlines steps to protect workers’ rights to unionize for better pay and working conditions, something they’ve won in some states (including California) but not all.
The proposal “is about easing the squeeze on working families who are raising their kids and caring for aging loved ones at the same time,” Biden said Tuesday. “And it’s about creating jobs with better pay and career pathways for caregivers, and showing them the dignity and respect that they deserve.”
Child care workers and advocates have praised the tenets of Biden’s plan. The proposal “would be a great step forward in a universal system of early care and education in this country,” CSCCE’s Austin said. “What’s really important about what Biden has proposed is addressing the conditions of [the] workforce and calling attention to how low the wages are, and how that is really linked to both educator well-being and the well-being of children.”
The reforms Biden has proposed “would be excellent news for everyone” in the child care workforce, Carreño said. “It’s been long overdue to see our profession as a first priority.”
Supporting child care workers over the long term will require the political will to listen to their needs
Still, some say a potential Biden administration won’t come soon enough for the aid the industry needs. “It’ll be too late for a bailout in January,” NAEYC’s Allvin said. “We need that money now.”
Even if Biden wins the election, real, widespread change will require a sustained commitment from policymakers and the public to the reforms that workers — and kids — need. During the pandemic, “People have realized how critical child care is,” Austin said. But as parents across the country struggle with months of caring for kids while also trying to do their jobs — and as many stare down confirmed or anticipated school closures in the fall — there’s been a focus on child care as a solution without regard to the safety or interests of child care workers.
“Somehow the burden has fallen on child care to be the answer for everybody else to be able to go to work, rather than really examining what we should be doing right now to make sure that workers across occupations can sustain themselves,” Austin said. “It’s this invisibility of the people who are actually doing child care that has allowed the workers and their own well-being to be missing from this conversation.”
Biden’s plan is a step in the right direction for workers, many say. And around the country, workers themselves are making their own voices heard, joining together to form unions and advocate for their rights.
More than 40,000 child care providers in California were granted collective bargaining rights last year, and this week, workers around the state are voting on whether to officially join the Child Care Providers United union. If the vote succeeds (as is expected), “We will be able to have a voice,” Carreño said. “We will be able to sit down at the bargaining table” and draft a contract with the state that includes better pay and benefits.
“Our country finally has come to realize that we are essential,” Carreño said, “and our country really needs to invest in the caregiving workforce and give us the legal protections that we need.”


vox--2020-07-24--More people in the US are hospitalized with Covid-19 than ever before

More Americans are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 than at any prior point in the pandemic , a grim milestone that indicates the coronavirus pandemic is not slowing down in the US .
On July 22 , 59,628 people across the United States were in the hospital after testing positive for the novel coronavirus , according to data collected by the Covid Tracking Project ; that total surpassed the previous daily high of 59,539 on April 15 , when the New York City area was the epicenter of the US outbreak .
Covid-19 has migrated across the country to many more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peaks .
Hospitalizations were overwhelmingly concentrated in the Northeast in the spring , but now more than half of hospitalized Covid-19 patients ( 35,624 ) are in the South .
The West has also seen the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients double since April , while the Northeast now accounts for fewer than 5,000 of the nearly 60,000 current hospitalizations .
The current total is likely an undercount .
Two states , Kansas and Hawaii , do not report current hospitalization data , and some states may temporarily not be reporting full hospitalization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reporting system ordered by the Trump administration .
“ The hospitalization number is the best indicator of where we are , ” Eric Topol , a professor of molecular medicine and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute , told Vox .
“ We ’ re going to go to new heights in the pandemic that we haven ’ t seen before .
Not that what we saw before wasn ’ t horrifying enough.
” The growth has been driven by accelerating spread in Arizona , California , Florida , Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15 , when New York City hospitals were nearly being overrun with Covid-19 patients , Texas had about 1,500 patients hospitalized with the disease .
Today , more than 10,000 Texans are hospitalized with Covid-19 .
Some areas are reaching a woeful tipping point of hospitals stretched to maximum capacity , scrambling to find beds in other facilities for Covid-19 patients .
Miami-Dade County reported this week that the number of patients in need of ICU care had exceeded the number of available ICU beds .
More than 50 hospitals across the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Texas Medical Center in Houston has already filled up its usual non-pandemic ICU unit and been forced to rely on its surge capacity plans to handle the patient load .
Earlier this month , 10 out of the 12 hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley reported that they were completely full and needed to start transferring patients to hospitals elsewhere in the state .
This was , unfortunately , to be expected .
Nearly all of the states currently experiencing an increase in new cases and hospitalizations started relaxing their social distancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government ’ s reopening guidelines of having sufficiently reduced the virus ’ s spread and adequately ramped up their testing and tracing capabilities .
New cases began rising and hospitalizations followed a few weeks after that .
Now deaths are ticking up again , reversing a steady decline that had begun in early May .
Four million Americans have had confirmed cases of Covid-19 .
More than 143,000 of them have died .
With hospitalizations reaching the new peak and several states still reporting thousands of new cases a day , experts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ August and fall .
“ We ’ ve still got 91 to 92 percent of people who are still vulnerable , who have not been infected , ” said Topol .
“ And so that just shows how many more people can be hurt .
Obviously many won ’ t get so sick , but many will.
” The new hospitalization record , and the untenable pressure it ’ s putting on the health care system , is also a reminder of how critical it is for states to implement and enforce measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the federal government to solve testing and contact tracing problems .
“ It should be an all-points bulletin to really bear down on this because otherwise there ’ s no limit on where this might go , ” said Topol .
Hospitals are running out of staff , supplies , and beds for Covid-19 patients Hospitals in hot spots across the country are expanding and even maxing out their staff , equipment , and beds , with doctors warning that the worst-case scenario of hospital resources being overwhelmed is on the horizon if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control of the coronavirus .
“ With Covid , a lot of times people who aren ’ t sick enough yet get pushed to the back , and then they can become really , really sick unfortunately because we were focusing our efforts on the people who are on the brink of death , ” an emergency room doctor at the Banner Health system in the Phoenix metro area , who asked to go unnamed fearing retaliation from his employer , told Vox recently .
Other doctors in Arizona , where 85 percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as of Thursday , have said the scarcity of resources means they ’ ll soon be rationing medical care , as doctors in Italy were forced to do .
“ The fear is we are going to have to start sharing ventilators , or we ’ re gon na have to start saying , ‘ You get a vent , you don ’ t. ’ I ’ d be really surprised if in a couple weeks we didn ’ t have to do that , ” says Murtaza Akhter , an emergency medicine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Phoenix .
The rampant transmission of the virus in Arizona and resulting pressure on hospitals are particularly infuriating to some emergency room and ICU staff , who say they ’ re having to make decisions on the fly that they ’ re uncomfortable making .
“ Sending people with Covid home with oxygen tanks because we don ’ t have the resources for them ?
This is something I ’ ve never done in my life before , ” says Akhter .
“ This is crazy .
And this is gon na be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So far we ’ re trying to hold steady , but how long will that last ?
” The psychological toll , he says , is serious too .
“ To come off a shift and be like , ‘ I ’ m losing hope ’ — that ’ s a dangerous place to be in , ” he says .
“ I don ’ t want to feel that way .
And that ’ s because despite the horrible numbers , despite the fact I ’ m still getting the Covid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite what we ’ ve been saying to the media from the front line , I drive home from work and I literally see lots of people congregating together closely and in the grocery store not wearing masks.
” Texas hospitals say they are in better shape now with personal protective equipment than they were in March and April , but that could change as the crisis gets worse .
Roberta Schwartz , executive vice president at Houston Methodist , says her facilities have sometimes had trouble getting gowns and disinfectant wipes .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ association for rural hospitals in the state , says he recently “ got a couple of SOS calls.
” Staffing is a universal problem in hot spots .
Houston Methodist has already brought in out-of-state nurses and asked its administrative staff with nursing certifications to start doing medical work again .
Nurses are also being asked to work longer and overnight shifts .
Rural hospitals in Texas aren ’ t running out of beds yet , but they are running into a staffing shortage .
These facilities might typically have five patients in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have staffed them accordingly .
But now there might be as many as 20 patients .
“ You ’ re working every nurse as much as you can work them and still not meeting the need , ” Henderson says .
It ’ s not clear where more staff could come from .
The state has already sent about 2,300 volunteers to the Rio Grande Valley , one of the hardest-hit areas in the state .
“ Other areas are requesting that workforce support , ” Henderson says .
“ But there ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resources to be sent.
” Another concern is ventilators .
Rural hospitals in Texas would ordinarily transfer their patients in serious condition , the kind who might be on a ventilator for days , to a larger hospital in the city .
But because urban hospitals are already overrun with Covid-19 patients , there is nowhere for the rural hospitals to send their patients .
Instead , they are forced to keep those patients , causing their beds to fill up even more quickly .
And while the current coronavirus patients are younger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Henderson says his hospitals don ’ t have enough of the nasal oxygen hookups that are used to help those patients breathe on their own and prevent them from being put on a ventilator .
“ They ’ ve shown to be effective , but everybody ’ s trying to get them , ” he says .
El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County , one of California ’ s biggest Covid-19 hot spots right now , has already brushed up against its worst-case scenario .
The hospital recently saw its available @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the hospital ’ s CEO , convened an impromptu committee to evaluate the patients currently on ventilators so they could prioritize if another patient who needed one came through their door .
They checked the patients ’ lung capacity and considered whether they could risk taking one or two of them off the ventilator if the need arose .
Luckily , Edward figured out a workaround .
He called another nearby hospital and asked if they had any ventilators available .
They had two , which they shipped over to El Centro @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still there , though Edward says he and the other hospital have stayed in constant contact in case the ventilators need to be transferred again .
Daily deaths are creeping up again but are still far below the earlier peak While daily Covid-19 hospitalizations reached a record high on July 22 , another key metric , daily deaths , 1,126 , was still less than half of its May 7 peak of 2,742 , according to the Covid Tracking Project .
Yet the trend is ominous , since daily deaths were dropping steadily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in early July .
On Thursday , Florida reported a new record single-day death toll of 173 .
Texas hit its own respective record on Wednesday , with 193 deaths .
Since many Covid-19 fatalities to date have occurred among people who were hospitalized for weeks before succumbing , experts say they expect deaths will continue to rise in the coming days and weeks .
Yet it ’ s possible , they say , that fewer people who are hospitalized will end up dying in this summer stage of the pandemic as compared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are going to be associated with more deaths or chronic illnesses , but I ’ m hoping that the deaths are not as steep as they were back in March and April , ” said Topol .
“ And maybe that ’ s because they are more young people that are sick and they will pull through .
Maybe it ’ s also because the treatments are getting better , not just the drugs but just the whole approach.
” Overall , he says , “ The hope is that the relationship between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as tight as it was , but we have to watch this closely because that ’ s the optimistic view.
” Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

More Americans are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 than at almost any other point in the pandemic, a grim indicator that the coronavirus pandemic is not slowing down in the US.
On July 23, 59,846 people across the United States were in the hospital after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, according to data reported by the Covid Tracking Project, just below the peak of 59,940 reached on April 15, when the New York City area was the epicenter of the US outbreak. (As the Covid Tracking Project notes, the national and state hospital data are erratic and incomplete at the moment, and reported totals may continue to shift.)
What’s clear is that Covid-19 has migrated across the country to many more regions in the three months since. In the spring, hospitalizations were overwhelmingly concentrated in the Northeast, but now more than half of hospitalized Covid-19 patients are in the South. The West has also seen the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients double since April, while the Northeast now accounts for fewer than 5,000 of the nearly 60,000 current hospitalizations.
The current total is likely an undercount. Two states, Kansas and Hawaii, do not report current hospitalization data, and some states may temporarily not be reporting full hospitalization numbers because of a recent change in the reporting system ordered by the Trump administration.
“The hospitalization number is the best indicator of where we are,” Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told Vox. “We’re going to go to new heights in the pandemic that we haven’t seen before. Not that what we saw before wasn’t horrifying enough.”
The growth has been driven by accelerating spread in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas in particular. On April 15, when New York City hospitals were nearly being overrun with Covid-19 patients, Texas had about 1,500 patients hospitalized with the disease. Today, more than 10,000 Texans are hospitalized with Covid-19.
Some areas are reaching a woeful tipping point of hospitals stretched to maximum capacity, scrambling to find beds in other facilities for Covid-19 patients. Miami-Dade County reported this week that the number of patients in need of ICU care had exceeded the number of available ICU beds. More than 50 hospitals across the state say they have no ICU beds available.
Texas Medical Center in Houston has already filled up its usual non-pandemic ICU unit and been forced to rely on its surge capacity plans to handle the patient load. Earlier this month, 10 out of the 12 hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley reported that they were completely full and needed to start transferring patients to hospitals elsewhere in the state.
Related Just 3 states meet these basic criteria to reopen and stay safe
This was, unfortunately, to be expected. Nearly all of the states currently experiencing an increase in new cases and hospitalizations started relaxing their social distancing restrictions in May and June before meeting the government’s reopening guidelines of having sufficiently reduced the virus’s spread and adequately ramped up their testing and tracing capabilities. New cases began rising and hospitalizations followed a few weeks after that. Now deaths are ticking up again, reversing a steady decline that had begun in early May.
Four million Americans have had confirmed cases of Covid-19. More than 143,000 of them have died. With hospitalizations surging and several states still reporting thousands of new cases a day, experts say we are in for a difficult August and fall.
“We’ve still got 91 to 92 percent of people who are still vulnerable, who have not been infected,” said Topol. “And so that just shows how many more people can be hurt. Obviously many won’t get so sick, but many will.”
The new hospitalizations, and the untenable pressure they’re putting on the health care system, are also a reminder of how critical it is for states to implement and enforce measures like mandatory face masks, and for the federal government to solve testing and contact tracing problems. “It should be an all-points bulletin to really bear down on this because otherwise there’s no limit on where this might go,” said Topol.
Hospitals are running out of staff, supplies, and beds for Covid-19 patients
Hospitals in hot spots across the country are expanding and even maxing out their staff, equipment, and beds, with doctors warning that the worst-case scenario of hospital resources being overwhelmed is on the horizon if their states don’t get better control of the coronavirus.
“With Covid, a lot of times people who aren’t sick enough yet get pushed to the back, and then they can become really, really sick unfortunately because we were focusing our efforts on the people who are on the brink of death,” an emergency room doctor at the Banner Health system in the Phoenix metro area, who asked to go unnamed fearing retaliation from his employer, told Vox recently.
Other doctors in Arizona, where 85 percent of hospital beds statewide were in use as of Thursday, have said the scarcity of resources means they’ll soon be rationing medical care, as doctors in Italy were forced to do.
“The fear is we are going to have to start sharing ventilators, or we’re gonna have to start saying, ‘You get a vent, you don’t.’ I’d be really surprised if in a couple weeks we didn’t have to do that,” says Murtaza Akhter, an emergency medicine physician at Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix.
The rampant transmission of the virus in Arizona and resulting pressure on hospitals are particularly infuriating to some emergency room and ICU staff, who say they’re having to make decisions on the fly that they’re uncomfortable making.
“Sending people with Covid home with oxygen tanks because we don’t have the resources for them? This is something I’ve never done in my life before,” says Akhter. “This is crazy. And this is gonna be even worse in a couple of weeks. So far we’re trying to hold steady, but how long will that last?”
The psychological toll, he says, is serious too.
“To come off a shift and be like, ‘I’m losing hope’ — that’s a dangerous place to be in,” he says. “I don’t want to feel that way. And that’s because despite the horrible numbers, despite the fact I’m still getting the Covid cases [in the ER], despite what we’ve been saying to the media from the front line, I drive home from work and I literally see lots of people congregating together closely and in the grocery store not wearing masks.”
Texas hospitals say they are in better shape now with personal protective equipment than they were in March and April, but that could change as the crisis gets worse. Roberta Schwartz, executive vice president at Houston Methodist, says her facilities have sometimes had trouble getting gowns and disinfectant wipes. John Henderson, who represents a trade association for rural hospitals in the state, says he recently “got a couple of SOS calls.”
Staffing is a universal problem in hot spots. Houston Methodist has already brought in out-of-state nurses and asked its administrative staff with nursing certifications to start doing medical work again. Nurses are also being asked to work longer and overnight shifts.
Rural hospitals in Texas aren’t running out of beds yet, but they are running into a staffing shortage. These facilities might typically have five patients in a given unit, and the hospitals have staffed them accordingly. But now there might be as many as 20 patients.
“You’re working every nurse as much as you can work them and still not meeting the need,” Henderson says.
It’s not clear where more staff could come from. The state has already sent about 2,300 volunteers to the Rio Grande Valley, one of the hardest-hit areas in the state.
“Other areas are requesting that workforce support,” Henderson says. “But there’s not much more in terms of resources to be sent.”
Another concern is ventilators. Rural hospitals in Texas would ordinarily transfer their patients in serious condition, the kind who might be on a ventilator for days, to a larger hospital in the city. But because urban hospitals are already overrun with Covid-19 patients, there is nowhere for the rural hospitals to send their patients. Instead, they are forced to keep those patients, causing their beds to fill up even more quickly.
And while the current coronavirus patients are younger than those seen in the spring, Henderson says his hospitals don’t have enough of the nasal oxygen hookups that are used to help those patients breathe on their own and prevent them from being put on a ventilator.
“They’ve shown to be effective, but everybody’s trying to get them,” he says.
El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County, one of California’s biggest Covid-19 hot spots right now, has already brushed up against its worst-case scenario. The hospital recently saw its available ventilators dwindle to one.
Adolphe Edward, the hospital’s CEO, convened an impromptu committee to evaluate the patients currently on ventilators so they could prioritize if another patient who needed one came through their door. They checked the patients’ lung capacity and considered whether they could risk taking one or two of them off the ventilator if the need arose.
Luckily, Edward figured out a workaround. He called another nearby hospital and asked if they had any ventilators available. They had two, which they shipped over to El Centro. For now, the machines are still there, though Edward says he and the other hospital have stayed in constant contact in case the ventilators need to be transferred again.
Daily deaths are creeping up again but are still far below the earlier peak
While daily Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging, another key metric, daily deaths, was 1,039 on July 23, still less than half of its May 7 peak of 2,742, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Yet the trend is ominous, since daily deaths were dropping steadily by mid-June and then began rising again in early July.
On Thursday, Florida reported a new record single-day death toll of 173. Texas hit its own respective record on Wednesday, with 193 deaths.
Since many Covid-19 fatalities to date have occurred among people who were hospitalized for weeks before succumbing, experts say they expect deaths will continue to rise in the coming days and weeks. Yet it’s possible, they say, that fewer people who are hospitalized will end up dying in this summer stage of the pandemic as compared to the spring.
“Hospitalizations undoubtedly are going to be associated with more deaths or chronic illnesses, but I’m hoping that the deaths are not as steep as they were back in March and April,” said Topol. “And maybe that’s because they are more young people that are sick and they will pull through. Maybe it’s also because the treatments are getting better, not just the drugs but just the whole approach.”
Overall, he says, “The hope is that the relationship between hospitalizations and fatalities won’t be as tight as it was, but we have to watch this closely because that’s the optimistic view.”
Update, July 24: This article and its headline previously stated that hospitalizations had surpassed a peak reached in April. They have been updated to reflect irregularity in the hospitalization data.


vox--2020-07-24--The 6 songs that explain Taylor Swift’s new album, Folklore

“ It started with imagery , ” wrote Taylor Swift in the preamble to Folklore , her eighth studio album .
“ Visuals that popped into my mind and piqued my curiosity.
” Among them : scars and battleships .
Trees and sunshine .
Wine and whiskey .
And cardigans .
Enough cardigans that one became the subject of an entire song .
Swift announced Folklore less than 24 hours before its July 24 release , giving few hints about its contents .
The one thing she did make clear , through an overhauled social media presence full of new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Folklore would have a well-defined aesthetic we haven ’ t seen from Swift before .
The nature-focused and unadorned imagery of Folklore extends beyond the album ’ s genesis ; those images are identifiable in every one of Folklore ’ s corners and position it as different from most of Swift ’ s other albums .
Bucking her typical promotional period entirely suggested a rebuke of her own traditionalist , tightly controlled image .
That ’ s also obvious in the black-and-white album art set among tall trees , the eight different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the choice to drop title case for all the track names , and even Swift ’ s decision to collaborate with indie-folk staples over her usual pop collaborators .
( Bon Iver !
Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner of The National ! )
As part of this approach , Swift skews away from her strongly first-person lyricism .
Instead of her usual pop songs about exes or even her current long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn , which largely defined her 2019 release , Lover , the singer slows down to spin tales out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her inspiration .
Self-isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic pushed her away from looking inward and toward crafting original stories , she wrote in the album ’ s introduction .
“ Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy , history , and memory .
I ’ ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love , wonder , and whimsy they deserve .
Now it ’ s up to you to pass them down.
” To understand Folklore , then , is to recognize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Taylor Swift is often absent from the stories she ’ s telling .
Which could be difficult to accept for the dedicated Swifties out there , eager to latch onto every line as self-referential and explicitly revealing .
“ These songs still have the visceral emotional connection that Swift ’ s fans expect from her , but they no longer seem to be encouraging listeners to trawl through the details of Swift ’ s life to figure out who she ’ s subtweeting , ” wrote Vox ’ s Constance Grady of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the storytelling rather than the gossip.
” Accepting this unique-to-Swift methodology is crucial to appreciating how strong a record Folklore is — and , beyond that , how impressive a step it is for Taylor Swift as an artist .
Folklore is best experienced as a full , complete work , but there ’ s a handful of individual songs that stand out as most emblematic of its conceptualization , tone , and feel .
You should listen to the entire album to form an opinion ; your own enjoyment will , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in miniature , these are the six songs that explain what makes Folklore a standout album for Miss Americana herself .
Folklore kicks off with an answer to our inevitable question : How ya doing these days , Tay ?
“ I ’ m doing good , I ’ m on some new shit , ” she sings .
“ Been saying ‘ yes ’ instead of ‘ no.
’ ” This rejoinder is one of the few times on the album she ’ s plainly speaking about herself , we ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s onto her “ new shit ” proves sufficient an answer and a true claim , at least as far as the music is concerned .
“ The 1 ” is danceable in a way that Swift ’ s album openers often are , but it ’ s been markedly slowed down from her usual establishing tracks .
It ’ s less a kiss-off to anyone expecting her to stick to that older shit she used to be on and more a solitary , gray-skied stroll through her day-to-day .
This quiet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of The National , who often writes and produces songs for folky , female voices .
He ’ s the co-writer and producer on “ The 1 ” and on 10 other songs , each one wistful , introspective , and impressionistic — without sacrificing the unmistakably melodic pop Swift is best at .
Swift released Folklore atypically , skipping past her usual hype cycle of preceding the album with numerous singles , often accompanied by pricey music videos full of famous guest stars .
These singles are generally regarded by fans and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ album , which is why it can be considered a positive that Swift skipped ahead to the album release this time .
There ’ s thankfully no chaff on Folklore , no obvious , cloying attempts to dominate radio play .
“ Cardigan ” seems positioned as the album ’ s first breakout , however , and it ’ s a good candidate — precisely because it nixes any contrived Top 40 sensibilities .
Instead , the song combines a memorable keyboard riff with strong imagery , as promised .
In addition to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is selling in her online store , natch ) , we get sweatshirts , Levi ’ s , black lipstick ; scars and bloodstains and smoke surround her .
It ’ s a tale of a girl in love with a boy who ’ s betrayed her — they go from kissing in bars to him sneaking around on weekends .
The song also has a music video , directed by Swift and filmed with a minimal crew overseen by a medical adviser , which really cements its first single status and Folklore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The Last Great American Dynasty ” has a clear storyline to it , as Swift relays the life of someone other than herself .
Rebekah , she sings , was a “ madwoman ” who owned a fabulous house in Rhode Island .
The “ Bitch Pack ” would join her to play cards with Salvador Dali and drink Champagne from swimming pools .
She stole a dog from a neighbor and “ dyed it key lime green.
” Rebekah is a “ madwoman , ” and Swift means that as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called “ Mad Woman , ” reinforces that she ’ s reclaiming the term for the good of womankind . )
Rebekah lived in that fabulous Rhode Island house for 50 years , and Swift mourns her with this ode to the woman ’ s eccentricities .
At the end , Swift ends up buying Rebekah ’ s old house — which , fans know , happened in real life .
Rebekah is Rebekah Harkness , a wealthy heiress who died in 1982 , more than 30 years before Swift purchased the $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is memorializing Rebekah ’ s life and her connection to it through her singing , as she does with the subjects of the album ’ s other whimsical folk tales .
There ’ s nostalgia , a touch of regret , and the setup of an inclination toward small-town fiction that runs throughout Folklore from here on out .
The National ’ s Dessner lends a significant amount of indie music cred to Folklore .
But a significant guest spot on “ Exile ” from Bon Iver , a.k.a .
Justin Vernon , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any dismissive indie music fans that she ’ s legit .
Although Vernon has moved away from the lo-fi , cabin-made folk that made him a star in 2007 with his first album — he ’ s won Grammys , he ’ s worked with Kanye — he ’ s still the pinnacle of the flannel-wearing , Midwestern-nice , banjo-playing crooner .
His songs have soundtracked a million weepy Tumblr posts and smooshed into every high school playlist sent to a crush for more than a decade .
Swift is undoubtedly pulling a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as a noted Tumblr fiend and the embodiment of cute crushin ’ mixtapes .
For Bon Iver to sing alongside her must be a personal win just as it is an aesthetic win for Folklore ; she ’ s earned the approval of one of the folksiest guys in music .
Heck , “ Exile ” really seems more like a Bon Iver song featuring Taylor Swift than anything else .
( The same goes for “ Peace , ” a song later on the album that Vernon co-wrote . )
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Swift ’ s styles here will probably satisfy the all-natural , anti-establishment crowd that Folklore demands legitimacy from .
The core of Folklore is a three-song story arc about an intense young romance .
While introducing a live premiere of the “ Cardigan ” video on YouTube , Swift explained that the arc was called the Teenage Love Triangle , with each of the three songs told from a different person ’ s perspective .
Many listeners have concluded that the three songs included are “ Cardigan , ” “ August , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the story are named Inez , James , and , unsurprisingly , Betty ; “ Cardigan ” is from Betty ’ s perspective while “ August ” is from Inez ’ s perspective and “ Betty ” from James ’ s perspective .
Inez is implied to be the woman who had a summer fling with James , causing a rift between him and Betty , his true love .
Perhaps because Inez is positioned as the “ other woman ” here , “ August ” works fairly well as a stand-alone song @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the arc and the album .
It ’ s also the most intriguingly ambiguous of the three songs in the Teenage Love Triangle arc , making it representative of the storytelling Swift is attempting on Folklore .
We can tell with the full context that Inez asks James to jump into her car and get “ twisted in the bedsheets ” despite his affection for another girl .
But Swift sings “ August ” from a place of heartbreak that fits into the trope of a difficult high school love .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of foggy nature walk-evoking visuals that are the crux of the album .
Betty completes the Teenage Love Triangle storyline : Taylor is singing from James ’ s point of view about how Betty breaks up with him after finding out that he hooked up with Inez .
It also figures into an extensive and ongoing fan theory that “ Taylor Is Gay , Actually.
” Already , Vulture has declared “ Betty ” to be part of music ’ s “ queer canon , ” for several reasons .
Chief among those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after James Taylor , so — James , Taylor ... James is Taylor .
Of course , Swift has established by this point that Folklore is a collection of fictional stories that she is retelling to her listeners , not any of her own .
But it ’ s admittedly difficult to avoid looking for clues to the artist in their art , and anything that can reinforce the LGBTaylor theory is a win for those who believe it .
There ’ s always at least one song on a Taylor Swift album @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Betty ” is perhaps the most explicit one so far .
James , whether he ’ s a 17-year-old boy or a 30-year-old woman , really misses his former love Betty and wants Betty to kiss him in his car again while Betty wears that cardigan of hers .
Maybe someone will develop a unified theory of Swift ’ s cardigan obsession next .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

“It started with imagery,” wrote Taylor Swift in the preamble to Folklore, her eighth studio album. “Visuals that popped into my mind and piqued my curiosity.”
Among them: scars and battleships. Trees and sunshine. Wine and whiskey. And cardigans. Enough cardigans that one became the subject of an entire song.
Swift announced Folklore less than 24 hours before its July 24 release, giving few hints about its contents. The one thing she did make clear, through an overhauled social media presence full of new, black-and-white photos of her, was that Folklore would have a well-defined aesthetic we haven’t seen from Swift before.
The nature-focused and unadorned imagery of Folklore extends beyond the album’s genesis; those images are identifiable in every one of Folklore’s corners and position it as different from most of Swift’s other albums. Bucking her typical promotional period entirely suggested a rebuke of her own traditionalist, tightly controlled image. That’s also obvious in the black-and-white album art set among tall trees, the eight different colored vinyl options to choose from, the choice to drop title case for all the track names, and even Swift’s decision to collaborate with indie-folk staples over her usual pop collaborators. (Bon Iver! Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner of The National!)
As part of this approach, Swift skews away from her strongly first-person lyricism. Instead of her usual pop songs about exes or even her current long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn, which largely defined her 2019 release, Lover, the singer slows down to spin tales out of the imagery she’s cited as her inspiration. Self-isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic pushed her away from looking inward and toward crafting original stories, she wrote in the album’s introduction. “Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I’ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve. Now it’s up to you to pass them down.”
To understand Folklore, then, is to recognize that, at least on this album, Taylor Swift is often absent from the stories she’s telling. Which could be difficult to accept for the dedicated Swifties out there, eager to latch onto every line as self-referential and explicitly revealing. “These songs still have the visceral emotional connection that Swift’s fans expect from her, but they no longer seem to be encouraging listeners to trawl through the details of Swift’s life to figure out who she’s subtweeting,” wrote Vox’s Constance Grady of the album. “The focus is on the storytelling rather than the gossip.” Accepting this unique-to-Swift methodology is crucial to appreciating how strong a record Folklore is — and, beyond that, how impressive a step it is for Taylor Swift as an artist.
Related How Taylor Swift reset her image with Folklore
Folklore is best experienced as a full, complete work, but there’s a handful of individual songs that stand out as most emblematic of its conceptualization, tone, and feel. You should listen to the entire album to form an opinion; your own enjoyment will, of course, be subjective. But in miniature, these are the six songs that explain what makes Folklore a standout album for Miss Americana herself.
“The 1,” track one
Folklore kicks off with an answer to our inevitable question: How ya doing these days, Tay? “I’m doing good, I’m on some new shit,” she sings. “Been saying ‘yes’ instead of ‘no.’” This rejoinder is one of the few times on the album she’s plainly speaking about herself, we’ll come to learn. And knowing she’s onto her “new shit” proves sufficient an answer and a true claim, at least as far as the music is concerned.
“The 1” is danceable in a way that Swift’s album openers often are, but it’s been markedly slowed down from her usual establishing tracks. It’s less a kiss-off to anyone expecting her to stick to that older shit she used to be on and more a solitary, gray-skied stroll through her day-to-day. This quiet quality is the work of Aaron Dessner of The National, who often writes and produces songs for folky, female voices. He’s the co-writer and producer on “The 1” and on 10 other songs, each one wistful, introspective, and impressionistic — without sacrificing the unmistakably melodic pop Swift is best at.
“Cardigan,” track two
Swift released Folklore atypically, skipping past her usual hype cycle of preceding the album with numerous singles, often accompanied by pricey music videos full of famous guest stars. These singles are generally regarded by fans and critics as the weakest songs on the album, which is why it can be considered a positive that Swift skipped ahead to the album release this time. There’s thankfully no chaff on Folklore, no obvious, cloying attempts to dominate radio play.
“Cardigan” seems positioned as the album’s first breakout, however, and it’s a good candidate — precisely because it nixes any contrived Top 40 sensibilities. Instead, the song combines a memorable keyboard riff with strong imagery, as promised. In addition to the visions of cardigans (which Swift is selling in her online store, natch), we get sweatshirts, Levi’s, black lipstick; scars and bloodstains and smoke surround her. It’s a tale of a girl in love with a boy who’s betrayed her — they go from kissing in bars to him sneaking around on weekends. The song also has a music video, directed by Swift and filmed with a minimal crew overseen by a medical adviser, which really cements its first single status and Folklore’s unkempt secret garden vibes.
“The Last Great American Dynasty,” track three
“The Last Great American Dynasty” has a clear storyline to it, as Swift relays the life of someone other than herself. Rebekah, she sings, was a “madwoman” who owned a fabulous house in Rhode Island. The “Bitch Pack” would join her to play cards with Salvador Dali and drink Champagne from swimming pools. She stole a dog from a neighbor and “dyed it key lime green.” Rebekah is a “madwoman,” and Swift means that as a compliment. (A later song, called “Mad Woman,” reinforces that she’s reclaiming the term for the good of womankind.)
Rebekah lived in that fabulous Rhode Island house for 50 years, and Swift mourns her with this ode to the woman’s eccentricities. At the end, Swift ends up buying Rebekah’s old house — which, fans know, happened in real life. Rebekah is Rebekah Harkness, a wealthy heiress who died in 1982, more than 30 years before Swift purchased the $17 million mansion in 2013. Swift is memorializing Rebekah’s life and her connection to it through her singing, as she does with the subjects of the album’s other whimsical folk tales. There’s nostalgia, a touch of regret, and the setup of an inclination toward small-town fiction that runs throughout Folklore from here on out.
“Exile (feat. Bon Iver),” track four
The National’s Dessner lends a significant amount of indie music cred to Folklore. But a significant guest spot on “Exile” from Bon Iver, a.k.a. Justin Vernon, feels like Swift’s insistence to any dismissive indie music fans that she’s legit. Although Vernon has moved away from the lo-fi, cabin-made folk that made him a star in 2007 with his first album — he’s won Grammys, he’s worked with Kanye — he’s still the pinnacle of the flannel-wearing, Midwestern-nice, banjo-playing crooner. His songs have soundtracked a million weepy Tumblr posts and smooshed into every high school playlist sent to a crush for more than a decade.
Swift is undoubtedly pulling a lot of her imagery from these places, as a noted Tumblr fiend and the embodiment of cute crushin’ mixtapes. For Bon Iver to sing alongside her must be a personal win just as it is an aesthetic win for Folklore; she’s earned the approval of one of the folksiest guys in music. Heck, “Exile” really seems more like a Bon Iver song featuring Taylor Swift than anything else. (The same goes for “Peace,” a song later on the album that Vernon co-wrote.) The striking similarities between Vernon’s and Swift’s styles here will probably satisfy the all-natural, anti-establishment crowd that Folklore demands legitimacy from.
“August,” track eight
The core of Folklore is a three-song story arc about an intense young romance. While introducing a live premiere of the “Cardigan” video on YouTube, Swift explained that the arc was called the Teenage Love Triangle, with each of the three songs told from a different person’s perspective. Many listeners have concluded that the three songs included are “Cardigan,” “August,” and “Betty.” The characters in the story are named Inez, James, and, unsurprisingly, Betty; “Cardigan” is from Betty’s perspective while “August” is from Inez’s perspective and “Betty” from James’s perspective. Inez is implied to be the woman who had a summer fling with James, causing a rift between him and Betty, his true love.
Perhaps because Inez is positioned as the “other woman” here, “August” works fairly well as a stand-alone song: It serves both as the midpoint of the arc and the album. It’s also the most intriguingly ambiguous of the three songs in the Teenage Love Triangle arc, making it representative of the storytelling Swift is attempting on Folklore. We can tell with the full context that Inez asks James to jump into her car and get “twisted in the bedsheets” despite his affection for another girl. But Swift sings “August” from a place of heartbreak that fits into the trope of a difficult high school love. It’s mired in the same kind of foggy nature walk-evoking visuals that are the crux of the album.
“Betty,” track 14
Betty completes the Teenage Love Triangle storyline: Taylor is singing from James’s point of view about how Betty breaks up with him after finding out that he hooked up with Inez. It also figures into an extensive and ongoing fan theory that “Taylor Is Gay, Actually.” Already, Vulture has declared “Betty” to be part of music’s “queer canon,” for several reasons. Chief among those reasons is that Taylor Swift is named after James Taylor, so — James, Taylor ... James is Taylor.
Of course, Swift has established by this point that Folklore is a collection of fictional stories that she is retelling to her listeners, not any of her own. But it’s admittedly difficult to avoid looking for clues to the artist in their art, and anything that can reinforce the LGBTaylor theory is a win for those who believe it. There’s always at least one song on a Taylor Swift album to fuel the theory, and “Betty” is perhaps the most explicit one so far. James, whether he’s a 17-year-old boy or a 30-year-old woman, really misses his former love Betty and wants Betty to kiss him in his car again while Betty wears that cardigan of hers.
Maybe someone will develop a unified theory of Swift’s cardigan obsession next.


vox--2020-07-24--How Taylor Swift reset her image with Folklore

On Thursday at midnight , Taylor Swift dropped her surprise quarantine album , Folklore , with only 17 hours ’ notice .
It ’ s been greeted with rave critical reviews .
The Guardian gave it five stars .
“ This one won ’ t require an album-length Ryan Adams remake to convince anyone that there ’ s songwriting there , ” said Variety .
Rolling Stone called it “ headspinning , ” “ heart-smashing , ” and Swift ’ s “ greatest album — so far.
” The rapturous acclaim Folklore has amassed is a sign that the press @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Swift after years spent debating her pop culture villainy and/or victimhood .
And it suggests that Swift , who declared in January ’ s Netflix documentary Miss Americana that she was done seeking public approval , has finally found it again .
Folklore announced itself as something different from the traditional Taylor Swift album before it ever arrived .
Swift has the release hype cycle down to a science at this point : Her last album , 2019 ’ s Lover , came after months of teases coded into her social media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the official album announcement .
In the months leading up to 2017 ’ s Reputation , Swift ’ s team plastered her face on UPS trucks across the country .
But Folklore — which Swift conceived and produced all while in quarantine as the Covid-19 pandemic forced lockdowns all over the world — made its way into the world less than 24 hours after Swift announced it .
There were no Easter eggs embedded into Instagram posts , no national print ad campaigns .
Moreover , Folklore was not preceded by any singles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like the classic Taylor Swift Top 40 hit .
That ’ s a departure from Swift ’ s increasingly bifurcated album strategy .
Her past few album releases have all been preceded by slick , radio-friendly pop tracks that sound as though they ’ ve been mathematically calibrated to play through the listener ’ s head on an endless loop .
Singles like “ Shake It Off ” and “ ME !
” can become massive , ubiquitous earworms , and they show off Swift ’ s ability to craft an unsinkable pop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simple , shallow , and often critically smeared .
Swift ’ s full albums , meanwhile , tend to contain songs richer and more contemplative than those early singles would suggest .
And it ’ s those quieter songs — like “ All Too Well ” or last year ’ s “ Cornelia Street ” — that tend to become both critical and fan favorites , and to be cited as examples of what makes Swift one of pop ’ s great storytellers .
Folklore is an album full of Taylor Swift in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intimate , lyrical , and vulnerable .
None of its songs have that telltale Max Martin hard edge of precision pop engineering .
Instead , they ’ re shaggy and rambling .
They don ’ t drive themselves into your head .
They steal their way in .
That subtle , gentle stealth is foundational to the way Swift is currently building her image .
She doesn ’ t need to be the untouchable aspirational pop princess who is also your teenage best friend anymore .
Right now , she ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ craft .
Taylor Swift has always struggled to combine intimacy with control .
With Folklore , she succeeds in balancing the two .
In 2017 , I took a deep dive into Taylor Swift ’ s star image from the early days of her fame onward .
What I found is that the central tension that has defined her image , driving both its highs and its lows , is one between intimacy and control .
Swift is always building a sense of cozy best friendship with her fans — sending out care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — but she is also obliged , as a major celebrity , to consider her image carefully , to calculate and craft the way she presents in public .
When her calculation shows in public , as it seemed to during that Kanye West feud , the public reacts as though she ’ s betraying their trust .
So many people seem unable to reconcile the sense of intimate friendship Swift encourages with the evidence of the control she brings to her career .
One of the ways this tension traditionally plays out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in her songcraft .
“ Her music mixes an almost impersonal professionalism — it ’ s so rigorously crafted it sounds like it has been scientifically engineered in a hit factory — with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true , ” wrote Rolling Stone in 2008 .
Her mathematically exact pop hooks sound exquisitely controlled .
Her confessional lyrics feel achingly intimate .
When the combination works , it ’ s what makes Taylor Swift great .
But when it doesn ’ t , people start to feel like she ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of why the press cycle of the Reputation era was so unfriendly to Swift .
With Folklore , Swift has found a way to make the split work again .
She ’ s still a pop songsmith in control of her craft , and it would be both facile and insulting to say that Folklore is uncontrolled .
But in moving away from radio-friendly Top 40 pop and toward the looser structures of indie pop , Swift is allowing the vulnerability and intimacy of her lyrics to take center stage .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rigorous control she brings to all of her work .
For the first time in a long time , she ’ s making it look natural and easy .
Swift has also found a way to create intimacy with her audience without mining material directly from her own life .
In Folklore , she plays with characters : She narrates “ Betty ” as a 17-year-old boy named James ; in “ The Last Great American Dynasty , ” she tells the story of her house ’ s former owner in a tale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s own time dating a Kennedy .
These songs still have the visceral emotional connection that Swift ’ s fans expect from her , but they no longer seem to be encouraging listeners to trawl through the details of Swift ’ s life to figure out who she ’ s subtweeting .
The focus is on the storytelling rather than the gossip .
And that means the critical conversation about Swift ’ s work can shift away from outlining all her relationships — the petty feuds , the flings , the question of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for publicity — and toward the craft .
That shift is easier for the press to perform now that the infamous Kanye tape has been released in full , exonerating Swift in the scandal that briefly turned her into a pop culture villain .
But a turn away from gossip seems to also be just what Swift wants for her image right now , and it ’ s a direction she ’ s been trending in for all of 2020 , even before the tape became public .
There ’ s a scene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might double as a thesis statement for Swift ’ s career right now .
It ’ s January 24 , 2020 , the day the Grammy nominations come out , and Swift is sitting tensely by her phone , waiting to hear how Reputation did .
Then the news comes : It hasn ’ t earned a nod in any of the major categories .
For just a moment , Swift ’ s face falls .
It looks as though her world has crumbled .
Then a look of steely reserve marches across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ okay , ” she says , like she ’ s trying to convince herself .
“ I ’ ll just make a better album.
” Folklore has critics ready and waiting to tell Swift she pulled it off .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

On Thursday at midnight, Taylor Swift dropped her surprise quarantine album, Folklore, with only 17 hours’ notice. It’s been greeted with rave critical reviews. The Guardian gave it five stars. “This one won’t require an album-length Ryan Adams remake to convince anyone that there’s songwriting there,” said Variety. Rolling Stone called it “headspinning,” “heart-smashing,” and Swift’s “greatest album — so far.”
The rapturous acclaim Folklore has amassed is a sign that the press is at last ready to make nice with Swift after years spent debating her pop culture villainy and/or victimhood. And it suggests that Swift, who declared in January’s Netflix documentary Miss Americana that she was done seeking public approval, has finally found it again.
Folklore announced itself as something different from the traditional Taylor Swift album before it ever arrived. Swift has the release hype cycle down to a science at this point: Her last album, 2019’s Lover, came after months of teases coded into her social media presence and a countdown clock ticking toward the official album announcement. In the months leading up to 2017’s Reputation, Swift’s team plastered her face on UPS trucks across the country. But Folklore — which Swift conceived and produced all while in quarantine as the Covid-19 pandemic forced lockdowns all over the world — made its way into the world less than 24 hours after Swift announced it. There were no Easter eggs embedded into Instagram posts, no national print ad campaigns.
Moreover, Folklore was not preceded by any singles, and contains no songs that sound like the classic Taylor Swift Top 40 hit. That’s a departure from Swift’s increasingly bifurcated album strategy. Her past few album releases have all been preceded by slick, radio-friendly pop tracks that sound as though they’ve been mathematically calibrated to play through the listener’s head on an endless loop. Singles like “Shake It Off” and “ME!” can become massive, ubiquitous earworms, and they show off Swift’s ability to craft an unsinkable pop hook, but they’re also simple, shallow, and often critically smeared.
Swift’s full albums, meanwhile, tend to contain songs richer and more contemplative than those early singles would suggest. And it’s those quieter songs — like “All Too Well” or last year’s “Cornelia Street” — that tend to become both critical and fan favorites, and to be cited as examples of what makes Swift one of pop’s great storytellers.
Folklore is an album full of Taylor Swift in “All Too Well” mode: intimate, lyrical, and vulnerable. None of its songs have that telltale Max Martin hard edge of precision pop engineering. Instead, they’re shaggy and rambling. They don’t drive themselves into your head. They steal their way in.
That subtle, gentle stealth is foundational to the way Swift is currently building her image. She doesn’t need to be the untouchable aspirational pop princess who is also your teenage best friend anymore. Right now, she’s a musical storyteller at the peak of her craft.
Taylor Swift has always struggled to combine intimacy with control. With Folklore, she succeeds in balancing the two.
In 2017, I took a deep dive into Taylor Swift’s star image from the early days of her fame onward. What I found is that the central tension that has defined her image, driving both its highs and its lows, is one between intimacy and control.
Swift is always building a sense of cozy best friendship with her fans — sending out care packages, having them over for cookies — but she is also obliged, as a major celebrity, to consider her image carefully, to calculate and craft the way she presents in public. When her calculation shows in public, as it seemed to during that Kanye West feud, the public reacts as though she’s betraying their trust. So many people seem unable to reconcile the sense of intimate friendship Swift encourages with the evidence of the control she brings to her career.
One of the ways this tension traditionally plays out with Swift is in the single-versus-album split in her songcraft. “Her music mixes an almost impersonal professionalism — it’s so rigorously crafted it sounds like it has been scientifically engineered in a hit factory — with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true,” wrote Rolling Stone in 2008. Her mathematically exact pop hooks sound exquisitely controlled. Her confessional lyrics feel achingly intimate.
When the combination works, it’s what makes Taylor Swift great. But when it doesn’t, people start to feel like she’s lying to them. That’s part of why the press cycle of the Reputation era was so unfriendly to Swift.
With Folklore, Swift has found a way to make the split work again. She’s still a pop songsmith in control of her craft, and it would be both facile and insulting to say that Folklore is uncontrolled. But in moving away from radio-friendly Top 40 pop and toward the looser structures of indie pop, Swift is allowing the vulnerability and intimacy of her lyrics to take center stage. She’s drawn a veil over the rigorous control she brings to all of her work. For the first time in a long time, she’s making it look natural and easy.
Swift has also found a way to create intimacy with her audience without mining material directly from her own life. In Folklore, she plays with characters: She narrates “Betty” as a 17-year-old boy named James; in “The Last Great American Dynasty,” she tells the story of her house’s former owner in a tale that reflects only obliquely on Swift’s own time dating a Kennedy.
These songs still have the visceral emotional connection that Swift’s fans expect from her, but they no longer seem to be encouraging listeners to trawl through the details of Swift’s life to figure out who she’s subtweeting. The focus is on the storytelling rather than the gossip.
And that means the critical conversation about Swift’s work can shift away from outlining all her relationships — the petty feuds, the flings, the question of whether some of those flings were staged for publicity — and toward the craft. That shift is easier for the press to perform now that the infamous Kanye tape has been released in full, exonerating Swift in the scandal that briefly turned her into a pop culture villain. But a turn away from gossip seems to also be just what Swift wants for her image right now, and it’s a direction she’s been trending in for all of 2020, even before the tape became public.
There’s a scene at the beginning of Miss Americana that might double as a thesis statement for Swift’s career right now. It’s January 24, 2020, the day the Grammy nominations come out, and Swift is sitting tensely by her phone, waiting to hear how Reputation did. Then the news comes: It hasn’t earned a nod in any of the major categories.
For just a moment, Swift’s face falls. It looks as though her world has crumbled.
Then a look of steely reserve marches across her features. “It’s okay,” she says, like she’s trying to convince herself. “I’ll just make a better album.”
Folklore has critics ready and waiting to tell Swift she pulled it off.


vox--2020-07-24--More people in the US are hospitalized with Covid-19 than at almost any other time

More Americans are currently hospitalized with Covid-19 than at almost any other point in the pandemic , a grim indicator that the coronavirus pandemic is not slowing down in the US .
On July 23 , 59,846 people across the United States were in the hospital after testing positive for the novel coronavirus , according to data reported by the Covid Tracking Project , just below the peak of 59,940 reached on April 15 , when the New York City area was the epicenter of the US outbreak .
( As the Covid Tracking Project notes , the national and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the moment , and reported totals may continue to shift . )
What ’ s clear is that Covid-19 has migrated across the country to many more regions in the three months since .
In the spring , hospitalizations were overwhelmingly concentrated in the Northeast , but now more than half of hospitalized Covid-19 patients are in the South .
The West has also seen the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients double since April , while the Northeast now accounts for fewer than 5,000 of the nearly 60,000 current hospitalizations .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Two states , Kansas and Hawaii , do not report current hospitalization data , and some states may temporarily not be reporting full hospitalization numbers because of a recent change in the reporting system ordered by the Trump administration .
“ The hospitalization number is the best indicator of where we are , ” Eric Topol , a professor of molecular medicine and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute , told Vox .
“ We ’ re going to go to new heights in the pandemic that we haven ’ t seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before wasn ’ t horrifying enough.
” The growth has been driven by accelerating spread in Arizona , California , Florida , Georgia , and Texas in particular .
On April 15 , when New York City hospitals were nearly being overrun with Covid-19 patients , Texas had about 1,500 patients hospitalized with the disease .
Today , more than 10,000 Texans are hospitalized with Covid-19 .
Some areas are reaching a woeful tipping point of hospitals stretched to maximum capacity , scrambling to find beds in other facilities for Covid-19 patients .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of patients in need of ICU care had exceeded the number of available ICU beds .
More than 50 hospitals across the state say they have no ICU beds available .
Texas Medical Center in Houston has already filled up its usual non-pandemic ICU unit and been forced to rely on its surge capacity plans to handle the patient load .
Earlier this month , 10 out of the 12 hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley reported that they were completely full and needed to start transferring patients to hospitals elsewhere in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to be expected .
Nearly all of the states currently experiencing an increase in new cases and hospitalizations started relaxing their social distancing restrictions in May and June before meeting the government ’ s reopening guidelines of having sufficiently reduced the virus ’ s spread and adequately ramped up their testing and tracing capabilities .
New cases began rising and hospitalizations followed a few weeks after that .
Now deaths are ticking up again , reversing a steady decline that had begun in early May .
Four million Americans have had confirmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them have died .
With hospitalizations surging and several states still reporting thousands of new cases a day , experts say we are in for a difficult August and fall .
“ We ’ ve still got 91 to 92 percent of people who are still vulnerable , who have not been infected , ” said Topol .
“ And so that just shows how many more people can be hurt .
Obviously many won ’ t get so sick , but many will.
” The new hospitalizations , and the untenable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care system , are also a reminder of how critical it is for states to implement and enforce measures like mandatory face masks , and for the federal government to solve testing and contact tracing problems .
“ It should be an all-points bulletin to really bear down on this because otherwise there ’ s no limit on where this might go , ” said Topol .
Hospitals are running out of staff , supplies , and beds for Covid-19 patients Hospitals in hot spots across the country are expanding and even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and beds , with doctors warning that the worst-case scenario of hospital resources being overwhelmed is on the horizon if their states don ’ t get better control of the coronavirus .
“ With Covid , a lot of times people who aren ’ t sick enough yet get pushed to the back , and then they can become really , really sick unfortunately because we were focusing our efforts on the people who are on the brink of death , ” an emergency room doctor at the Banner Health system in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go unnamed fearing retaliation from his employer , told Vox recently .
Other doctors in Arizona , where 85 percent of hospital beds statewide were in use as of Thursday , have said the scarcity of resources means they ’ ll soon be rationing medical care , as doctors in Italy were forced to do .
“ The fear is we are going to have to start sharing ventilators , or we ’ re gon na have to start saying , ‘ You get a vent , you don ’ t. ’ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a couple weeks we didn ’ t have to do that , ” says Murtaza Akhter , an emergency medicine physician at Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix .
The rampant transmission of the virus in Arizona and resulting pressure on hospitals are particularly infuriating to some emergency room and ICU staff , who say they ’ re having to make decisions on the fly that they ’ re uncomfortable making .
“ Sending people with Covid home with oxygen tanks because we don ’ t have the resources for them ?
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in my life before , ” says Akhter .
“ This is crazy .
And this is gon na be even worse in a couple of weeks .
So far we ’ re trying to hold steady , but how long will that last ?
” The psychological toll , he says , is serious too .
“ To come off a shift and be like , ‘ I ’ m losing hope ’ — that ’ s a dangerous place to be in , ” he says .
“ I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And that ’ s because despite the horrible numbers , despite the fact I ’ m still getting the Covid cases [ in the ER ] , despite what we ’ ve been saying to the media from the front line , I drive home from work and I literally see lots of people congregating together closely and in the grocery store not wearing masks.
” Texas hospitals say they are in better shape now with personal protective equipment than they were in March and April , but that could change as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executive vice president at Houston Methodist , says her facilities have sometimes had trouble getting gowns and disinfectant wipes .
John Henderson , who represents a trade association for rural hospitals in the state , says he recently “ got a couple of SOS calls.
” Staffing is a universal problem in hot spots .
Houston Methodist has already brought in out-of-state nurses and asked its administrative staff with nursing certifications to start doing medical work again .
Nurses are also being asked to work longer and overnight shifts .
Rural hospitals in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beds yet , but they are running into a staffing shortage .
These facilities might typically have five patients in a given unit , and the hospitals have staffed them accordingly .
But now there might be as many as 20 patients .
“ You ’ re working every nurse as much as you can work them and still not meeting the need , ” Henderson says .
It ’ s not clear where more staff could come from .
The state has already sent about 2,300 volunteers to the Rio Grande Valley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state .
“ Other areas are requesting that workforce support , ” Henderson says .
“ But there ’ s not much more in terms of resources to be sent.
” Another concern is ventilators .
Rural hospitals in Texas would ordinarily transfer their patients in serious condition , the kind who might be on a ventilator for days , to a larger hospital in the city .
But because urban hospitals are already overrun with Covid-19 patients , there is nowhere for the rural hospitals to send their patients .
Instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients , causing their beds to fill up even more quickly .
And while the current coronavirus patients are younger than those seen in the spring , Henderson says his hospitals don ’ t have enough of the nasal oxygen hookups that are used to help those patients breathe on their own and prevent them from being put on a ventilator .
“ They ’ ve shown to be effective , but everybody ’ s trying to get them , ” he says .
El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hot spots right now , has already brushed up against its worst-case scenario .
The hospital recently saw its available ventilators dwindle to one .
Adolphe Edward , the hospital ’ s CEO , convened an impromptu committee to evaluate the patients currently on ventilators so they could prioritize if another patient who needed one came through their door .
They checked the patients ’ lung capacity and considered whether they could risk taking one or two of them off the ventilator if the need arose .
Luckily , Edward figured out a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and asked if they had any ventilators available .
They had two , which they shipped over to El Centro .
For now , the machines are still there , though Edward says he and the other hospital have stayed in constant contact in case the ventilators need to be transferred again .
Daily deaths are creeping up again but are still far below the earlier peak While daily Covid-19 hospitalizations are surging , another key metric , daily deaths , was 1,039 on July 23 , still less than half of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Covid Tracking Project .
Yet the trend is ominous , since daily deaths were dropping steadily by mid-June and then began rising again in early July .
On Thursday , Florida reported a new record single-day death toll of 173 .
Texas hit its own respective record on Wednesday , with 193 deaths .
Since many Covid-19 fatalities to date have occurred among people who were hospitalized for weeks before succumbing , experts say they expect deaths will continue to rise in the coming days and weeks .
Yet it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fewer people who are hospitalized will end up dying in this summer stage of the pandemic as compared to the spring .
“ Hospitalizations undoubtedly are going to be associated with more deaths or chronic illnesses , but I ’ m hoping that the deaths are not as steep as they were back in March and April , ” said Topol .
“ And maybe that ’ s because they are more young people that are sick and they will pull through .
Maybe it ’ s also because the treatments are getting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just the whole approach.
” Overall , he says , “ The hope is that the relationship between hospitalizations and fatalities won ’ t be as tight as it was , but we have to watch this closely because that ’ s the optimistic view.
” Update , July 24 : This article and its headline previously stated that hospitalizations had surpassed a peak reached in April .
They have been updated to reflect irregularity in the hospitalization data .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .


vox--2020-07-24--Join the Vox Book Club!

Join the Vox Book Club!

Here ’ s how the Vox Book Club works : Every month , we pick a book .
Throughout the month , we publish discussion posts containing thoughts and questions from Vox book critic Constance Grady , but we also have comments turned on and moderated so you can share your thoughts , too .
Talk among yourselves !
Post your opinions and questions !
Or use our discussion posts as a jumping-off point for ( socially-distanced ) discussions with your own friends and family .
And at the end of the month , we gather on Zoom for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ July is Curtis Sittenfeld ’ s Rodham , an alternate history that tells us what would have happened if Hillary Rodham had never married Bill Clinton .
On its own merits , Rodham is a juicy , scandalous read , with plenty to say about the way American politics have evolved during the decades the Clinton family has been in public life .
( Plus , there are some oddly intimate sex scenes that in and of themselves are fodder for endless conversation . )
And because this is Vox and we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics nerds on the planet , we ’ ve brought in some special Vox experts to help us fact-check Rodham ’ s politics and put the book into context , both as a piece of alternate political history and as a work of political real person fiction .
To close out the month , Constance will host a live discussion of Rodham on Thursday , July 30 with the author herself , Curtis Sittenfeld .
Sign up here to be notified about new book selections , discussions , and related live events .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on political real person fiction and how Rodham fits into the genre Friday , July 24 : Discussion post fact-checking Rodham ’ s alternate history and examining how the book imagines Hillary Rodham Clinton , the woman , the myth , the politician Thursday , July 30 at 5pm ET : Virtual live discussion featuring Vox book critic Constance Grady and Rodham author Curtis Sittenfeld .
RSVP here !

The Vox Book Club is linking to Bookshop.org to support local and independent booksellers.
Here’s how the Vox Book Club works: Each month, we pick a book. Around the middle of the month, we publish a discussion post containing thoughts and questions from Vox book critic Constance Grady, but we also have comments turned on and moderated so you can share your thoughts, too. Talk among yourselves! Post your opinions and questions! Or use the conversation as a jumping-off point for your own conversations with friends and family. And at the end of the month, we gather on Zoom for a virtual live discussion.
Our pick for November 2021 is Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. It’s a witty and biting debut novel that also contains one of the cringiest Thanksgiving scenes ever committed to the page. We’ll have plenty to discuss here on the site, and at the end of the month, we’ll meet with Reid herself live on Zoom to discuss the whole thing. RSVP here to join the fun, and in the meantime, subscribe to the Vox Book Club newsletter to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Here’s the full Vox Book Club schedule for November 2021:
Friday, November 19: Discussion post on Such a Fun Age published to Vox.com
Tuesday, November 30, 5 pm Eastern: Virtual live event with author Kiley Reid. RSVP here. Reader questions are encouraged!