Some non-coronavirus news
One of my great regrets of 2020 is the number of important stories I had to put on the back burner due to COVID-19, including coverage of our region’s public hospital. Erlanger’s underfunded pension has been an elephant in the room since long before I came to the paper in July 2017, and the hospital board acted this fall to reverse the downward spiral.
This week, I got to delve into the human impact of that decision. I think readers who don’t typically gravitate toward Erlanger stories will still take something away from this series. Personally, I’ve never been so motivated to evaluate my retirement plans.
In coronavirus news, Hamilton County has averaged 147 new cases a day in the past week, the lowest that figure has been since Nov. 9. The health department reported 116 hospitalizations with 25 people in the intensive care unit. At the beginning of January, the number of people in the ICU was 61.
On this day last year, Chinese officials confirmed over 7,700 cases and 170 deaths related to the mysterious new coronavirus as foreign governments began airlifting their residents out of the outbreak’s epicenter in Wuhan. The New York Times reported the number of actual cases was likely higher due to a shortage of test kits.
– Elizabeth Fite, health care reporter, efite@timesfreepress.com
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