First Edition: March 24, 2022
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KHN:
Health Officials See Bright Future In Poop Surveillance
One of Patrick Green’s first orders of business each day is to open a tap and fill a bottle with sludge. A utilities plant operator in Modesto, a city of nearly a quarter-million people in California’s San Joaquin Valley, Green helps keep the city’s sewers flowing and its wastewater treated to acceptable levels of safety. But in recent months, he and his colleagues have added covid-19 sleuthing to their job description. At the treatment plant where Modesto’s sewer pipes converge, larger items, ranging from not-supposed-to-be-flushed baby wipes to car parts, are filtered out. What remains is ushered into a giant vat, where the solids settle to the bottom. It’s from that 3-feet-deep dark sludge that researchers siphon samples in their search for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid. (Barry-Jester, 3/24)
KHN:
Can Melatonin Gummies Solve Family Bedtime Struggles? Experts Advise Caution
For three exhausting years, Lauren Lockwood tried to get her son Rex to sleep through the night. As an infant, he couldn’t sleep without a blanket over his carrier to drown out the world around him. At age 2, it sometimes took hours for him — and her — to fall asleep, only for him to be jolted awake from night terrors that left him shrieking in panic. Over the years, Lockwood, a nurse midwife who runs a group for new moms from her home in Oakland, California, experimented with a gamut of approaches to bedtime. When Rex was a baby, she let him “cry it out” so he could learn to put himself back to sleep. As he got older, she would lie beside him for hours each night. Finally, she hired a sleep consultant who created yet another plan that didn’t solve the problem. By the time Rex was 3, Lockwood, with another baby on the way, was worn out and desperate. (Gold, 3/24)
KHN:
In Nurse’s Trial, Investigator Says Hospital Bears ‘Heavy’ Responsibility For Patient Death
A lead investigator in the criminal case against former Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught testified Wednesday that state investigators found Vanderbilt University Medical Center had a “heavy burden of responsibility” for a grievous drug error that killed a patient in 2017, but pursued penalties and criminal charges only against the nurse and not the hospital itself. Vaught, 38, was stripped of her nursing license and is now on trial in Nashville for charges of reckless homicide and abuse of an impaired adult. If convicted, she faces as much as 12 years in prison. Vanderbilt received no punishment for the fatal drug error. (Kelman, 3/24)
Stat:
Moderna To Ask FDA To Authorize Covid Vaccine In Kids 6 Months To 6 Years
Moderna announced Wednesday that it will ask the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in children aged 6 months to 6 years, a group for which there are currently no authorized Covid vaccines. The company’s announcement came as it released interim data from two clinical trials of its vaccine in children under 6 years of age. Moderna said the studies — in children aged 6 months to 23 months and 2 years to 6 years — showed the vaccine generated similar immune responses as those seen in adults aged 18 to 25 who received two doses of Moderna’s adult Covid vaccine. (Branswell and Herper, 3/23)
The New York Times:
Idaho Governor Calls Abortion Law ‘Unwise’ But Signs It Anyway
Gov. Brad Little of Idaho signed a strict new abortion bill into law on Wednesday, even as he expressed grave concerns about the wisdom and constitutionality of the measure and warned that it could retraumatize victims of sexual assault. ... “While I support the pro-life policy in this legislation, I fear the novel civil enforcement mechanism will in short order be proven both unconstitutional and unwise,” Mr. Little wrote in a message to Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who is also president of the State Senate. The state attorney general’s office had previously issued an opinion saying that the bill would effectively prohibit all abortions and that it would most likely be found unconstitutional. (Baker, 3/23)
ABC News:
Idaho Governor Signs Bill Banning Abortion After 6 Weeks Modeled After Texas Law
The new law also allows the father, grandparents, siblings, uncles or aunts of the fetus to sue a medical provider who performs the procedure. ... Although the Idaho law is the first in the nation to be modeled after the Texas law, there are a few differences. Both allow for exceptions in the case of a medical emergency, but the Texas law does not allow for exceptions in cases of rape or incest. In contrast, the Idaho bill does allow for such exceptions. However, women who want an abortion under those exceptions in Idaho are required to file a police report and show it to the medical provider before the abortion. (Kekatos, 3/23)
AP:
Noem Signs Bill Aiming To Restrict Abortion Pill Access
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday signed a bill that would make the state one of the most difficult places to get abortion pills, though most of the law will not be enacted unless the state prevails in a federal court battle. The Republican governor pushed the legislation this year to enshrine a similar rule from her administration that attempted to require abortion-seekers to make three separate visits to a doctor to take abortion pills. But a federal court issued a preliminary injunction against that rule last month, and the bill Noem signed contains language that says the restrictions are not enforceable unless the state convinces a federal court to overturn that order. (Groves, 3/23)
Oklahoman:
Oklahoma GOP Advances Nation's Most Restrictive Anti-Abortion Law
Oklahoma is one step closer to copying a restrictive anti-abortion law implemented in Texas. But legislation advanced Tuesday by the Oklahoma House is even more restrictive than the law adopted in Texas that has forced hundreds, if not thousands, of women to seek abortions in neighboring states. Republican House legislators passed House Bill 4327 that would effectively ban most abortions by allowing private citizens to sue anyone who performs an abortion or "aids or abets" someone who pursues the procedure. (Forman, 3/23)
AP:
Colorado Democrats Send Abortion Access Bill To Governor
Colorado’s Democrat-led Legislature on Wednesday sent the governor a bill to codify the right to abortion in state law in a party-line response to efforts in other states to limit abortion access as well as pending constitutional challenges to the procedure. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has said he will sign the bill into law. (3/23)
ABC News:
Ketanji Brown Jackson Clears Major Hurdle In Historic Supreme Court Bid
The nation's first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, cleared 19-hours of grueling questioning at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, appearing headed toward confirmation as a justice with support from all Democrats and a small number of Republicans. "In my capacity as a justice, I would do what I've done for the past decade," Jackson told the committee on her third day of testimony, "which is to rule from a position of neutrality, to look carefully at the facts and… to render rulings that I believe and that I hope that people would have confidence in." (Dwyer, 3/23)
The Hill:
Dems Plow Toward Supreme Court Vote After Testy Hearing
Democrats are barreling forward with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation after she emerged from two days of high-profile questioning largely unscathed. How far above 50 votes Jackson will ultimately get is unclear. Republicans are skeptical she’ll get more than one or two of their members, as GOP senators harden their lines of attack against her nomination. (Carney, 3/24)
AP:
AP FACT CHECK: Senators Misrepresent Jackson On Abortion
Republican senators painted Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson as hostile to anti-abortion views, twisting words from a legal brief she co-signed years ago as evidence she would rule broadly against abortion opponents. That’s a misrepresentation. (Yen and Woodward, 3/24)
ABC News:
Ketanji Brown Jackson Highlights Challenge Of Being A Working Mom In Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
If Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, she will set precedent as not only the first Black woman to sit on the nation's high court, but also as the second-consecutive working mother to be confirmed. Jackson, 51, is the mother of two school-age daughters, Talia and Leila. The most recent justice confirmed to the Supreme Court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is a mother of seven children, five biological and two who were adopted from Haiti. ... On Tuesday, in response to a question from Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, Jackson opened up more about juggling her career and motherhood. She spoke about missing events in her daughters' lives because of her job, and said that she "didn't always get the balance right." (Kindelan, 3/23)
Reuters:
U.S. Signs Up More Than 14.5 Mln People For Obamacare Health Insurance
More than 14.5 million Americans signed up for Obamacare health insurance for 2022, a 21% jump over last year and the highest since the Affordable Care Act was signed 12 years ago, the U.S. government said on Wednesday. About 10.3 million people enrolled from the 33 U.S. states that use the online marketplace funded by the federal government and about 4.3 million people from states that sell the insurance directly to their residents. (2/23)
The Fiscal Times:
Obamacare Turns 12 With Record Enrollment, But Trouble Ahead
When President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law 12 years ago, Vice President Joe Biden was famously overheard telling his boss that the occasion was a “big f—ing deal.” Today, despite a rocky start, the ACA boasts record enrollment, thanks in no small part to President Joe Biden’s effort to expand coverage in the first year of his administration amid the Covid-19 pandemic. To top it off, Republican efforts to overturn the law seem to have run out of gas, a situation noted by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Larry Levitt, who wrote that there are “no meaningful political or legal threats to its existence for the first time since its passage.” (Rainey, 3/23)
CNN:
Obamacare: Low-Income Americans Now Can Sign Up For $0 Premium Plans On Federal Exchange
Low-income Americans who missed signing up for 2022 Affordable Care Act coverage can now enroll in plans with $0 premiums through the federal exchange's website. Those with incomes less than 150% of the federal poverty level -- $19,320 for an individual and $39,750 for a family of four -- can select policies on healthcare.gov through a special enrollment period, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told CNN exclusively on Monday. Most people will be able to select plans with no premiums, while others may have to pay a few dollars. (Luhby, 3/21)
Politico:
Joe Biden’s Never-Ending Campaign To Build On Obamacare
In the dwindling time Joe Biden has to revive his domestic agenda, one thing is clear: Even if he succeeds, it will be a far cry from completing one big unfinished task he promised to tackle. That task was delivering on the full promise of Obamacare, the national health care reform law enacted in 2010 while Biden was vice president. His vow to expand and strengthen it was a central theme of his presidential campaign, and part of how he distinguished himself from his challengers in the 2020 primary. (Kenen, 3/23)
NBC News:
White House Once Again Urges Congress To Pass Funding For Covid
The White House on Wednesday continued to press Congress to provide emergency funding it says it needs to buy additional Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and other critical pandemic tools. Without the funds, the U.S. faces major cutbacks in its Covid response efforts, including a critical shortage of monoclonal antibody treatments and an insufficient supply of fourth vaccine doses that may be needed for the general public this fall, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, Jeff Zients, said at a briefing. (Lovelace Jr., 3/23)
AP:
Omicron Subvariant Found In 25% Of Cases Tested At UW Lab
Health officials say the subvariant of omicron known as BA.2 accounts for about one-fourth of COVID-19 cases sequenced in Washington. The Seattle Times reports the subvariant has steadily spread in the state, and across the country and Europe, but researchers are hopeful any potential wave of the new strain won’t cause as many infections, hospitalizations and deaths as the original version of the variant did. (3/23)
CIDRAP:
Study: Kids' Antibody Responses After COVID-19 Greater Than Adults'
US infants and toddlers previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 had significantly higher levels of antibodies against the virus than did adults, finds a prospective study yesterday in JCI Insight. Researchers with Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared concentrations of receptor binding domain (RBD) antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and neutralizing antibodies in serum samples from children 0 to 17 years old with those from adults aged 18 to 62. (3/23)
HealthDay News:
Organ Transplants From Donors Who Had COVID-19 Are Safe, Study Shows
For those waiting during the pandemic for a new kidney or liver, new research is reassuring: Organs from deceased donors who had COVID-19 did not cause infection in recipients and posed no risk to healthcare workers. In a study that began in September 2021, the Duke University School of Medicine team assessed transplants in which two livers and two kidney/pancreas combinations from four donors who tested positive for COVID-19 were given to four recipients. (3/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Airline CEOs Ask Biden To Drop Mask Requirement For Planes And Airports
Chief executives of major passenger and cargo airlines pressed President Biden on Wednesday to do away with the requirement that passengers wear masks on planes and in airports. Top executives at airlines including American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. wrote in a letter to Mr. Biden that mandatory masking and another requirement that passengers test negative for Covid-19 before flying to the U.S. from abroad are no longer necessary now that cases and hospitalizations are on the decline. (Sider, 3/24)
The Washington Post:
Judge Rules That A Dozen Virginia Students Can Ask For Mask Mandates — But No More
A federal judge in Charlottesville ruled Wednesday that a handful of schools in Virginia could require face masks if necessary to protect a dozen immunocompromised children whose families sued over mask-optional policies. The ruling includes schools in the state’s largest districts, Loudoun and Fairfax. Judge Norman K. Moon emphasized repeatedly, though, that he is not undoing state law and an executive order that makes masks optional. His order is limited to the 12 families who sued in Charlottesville federal court, whose children attend 10 different school districts in Virginia and range in age from preschool to 11th grade. Those children, he ruled, can ask their schools to require masks as an accommodation for their disabilities. (Natanson and Weiner, 3/24)
AP:
New York City To Let Unvaccinated Athletes Play Home Games
New York City’s mayor will announce Thursday that he’s exempting athletes and performers from the city’s vaccine mandate for private workers, a move that will allow Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to play home games and unvaccinated baseball players to take the field when their season begins. Mayor Eric Adams will make the announcement Thursday morning and it will be effective immediately, according to a person familiar with the upcoming announcement who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. The city’s sweeping vaccine mandate for workers will still apply to people with other types of jobs, including government employees. (Price, 3/24)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Moves To End Vaccine Requirements At Restaurants, Gyms
Los Angeles on Wednesday took another step toward rolling back its COVID-19 vaccine verification requirements for indoor restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and other businesses even amid concerns that circulation of the “stealth” Omicron subvariant, BA.2, might fuel an increase in cases this spring. The City Council voted 13 to 1 to make it voluntary for such businesses to verify that people patronizing their indoor areas are vaccinated. The changes would also remove such requirements for big outdoor events. (Alpert Reyes, Money and Lin II, 3/23)
AP:
US Capitol Reopening For Limited Public Tours After 2 Years
The U.S. Capitol will reopen to the public on Monday for guided tours for limited groups of people who have registered in advance, congressional officials said, two years after the coronavirus pandemic prompted the cessation of such visits. Officials said that the resumption would occur in phases, beginning on Monday for school groups and other groups of up to 15 people who would be led by lawmakers or their aides. Congressional offices would each be limited to leading one tour weekly. (Fram, 3/23)
Bay Area News Group:
Bob Saget Said He Had Long COVID, Didn't Feel Well Before Death
To add to the mystery of how Bob Saget fell in his Florida hotel room and suffered a fatal brain injury, the “Full House” star said he didn’t feel well and that his hearing was “off” before performing a comedy set the night before his death, according to a new report. Saget, 65, also told a showrunner at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall near Jacksonville, Florida that he was suffering from “long-term COVID” and that it had taken “his body a long time to get over it.” That’s what the showrunner, Rosalie Cocci, told Orange County Sheriff’s investigators in an interview conducted after the actor’s death, according to audio obtained by Page Six. (Ross, 3/23)
The Atlantic:
Americans Want To Return To Normal. But Also They Don’t
Recent opinion surveys give mixed messages about how Americans perceive the current state of the pandemic, and what they think we should do about it. In a February Washington Post/ABC News poll, for example, 58 percent of Americans said that controlling the spread of the coronavirus is more important than loosening restrictions on normal activities. In a Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted the same week, 51 percent said we need to learn to live with COVID-19 and get back to normal. These are two of several examples that show Americans have seemingly conflicting views about the pandemic. A natural question to ask is why—is it the polls or the American people who are confused? And what do Americans really think? (Jackson, 3/23)
Modern Healthcare:
United Behavioral Health Beats Landmark Coverage Class-Action
A federal appeals court on Tuesday reversed a landmark decision that required the nation's largest behavioral health insurer to adopt more stringent standards for mental health and substance abuse treatment and reprocess tens of thousands of claims. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that United Behavioral Health adequately followed plan terms when it denied coverage by self-insured and fully insured employer health plans for residential and outpatient treatment from 2011 to 2017. (Tepper, 3/23)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Ninth Circuit Overturns Behavioral Health Care Rulings That Required Insurer To Reconsider Thousands Of Claims
A federal appeals court has overturned rulings that would have required an insurer to reconsider its denials of tens of thousands of claims for mental health, drug and alcohol care. In decisions in 2019 and 2020, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero of San Francisco said United Behavioral Health, which manages mental health services for insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, had acted “to protect its bottom line” by using its own restrictive criteria to deny claims in multiple states from 2011 to 2017. He said the company then “lied to state regulators” and made misleading statements during a nonjury trial in his court. (Egelko, 3/23)
Modern Healthcare:
Mount Sinai Opens Clinic To Support Pregnant Women And Prevent Stillbirth
Mount Sinai Health System will launch a multidisciplinary clinic this month, focused on reducing stillbirths and supporting women and families who have experienced this pregnancy loss, the health system said Tuesday. The Rainbow Clinic at Mount Sinai is a collaboration with the organization PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy and will provide sensitivity training for clinicians and devise strategies for better pregnancy outcomes. It will offer clinical care and psychological support in post-stillbirth pregnancies as a way to prevent fear, anxiety and future perinatal losses. (Devereaux, 3/23)
The Boston Globe:
State Physicians Urge FDA To Ease Restrictions On Blood Donation By Gay, Bisexual Men
The state’s leading advocacy group for doctors and a Boston-based health care center are urging the US Food and Drug Administration to further ease restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men, calling the practice both discriminatory and problematic amid a national blood shortage. Massachusetts Medical Society and Fenway Health have partnered to press the federal government to adopt an enhanced screening process for blood donation, instead of excluding men who have sex with men. Gay men have been barred from donating blood since the 1980s, because of fears over HIV and AIDS. The FDA subsequently revised its policy in 2015 to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood if they had abstained from sex with other men for a year. In 2020, the FDA again adjusted the abstention window to 90 days. (Bartlett, 3/23)
AP:
Kansas House Wants Age Limit For Tobacco, Vaping At 21
The Republican-controlled Kansas House on Wednesday approved a bill that would increase the age to purchase or possess cigarettes and tobacco products from 18 to 21. The legislation also applies to electronic cigarettes and vaping products, and would prohibit them in school buildings. It would also make selling any tobacco or vaping products to someone younger than 21 or buying them for those under 21 a misdemeanor that can be punished with a $200 fine. (Field, 3/23)
AP:
Lawmakers OK Bill Aimed At Reversing High Child Abuse Rates
Kentucky lawmakers took aim Wednesday at reversing the state’s chronically high rates for child abuse and neglect, passing a sweeping measure to bolster prevention and oversight efforts. The bill won 94-0 final passage in the House, sending the measure to Gov. Andy Beshear. Child welfare advocates hailed the action, saying the legislation advances efforts to confront the Bluegrass State’s high national standing for its rates of child abuse and neglect. (Schreiner, 3/23)
AP:
Lawmakers Approve Plan To Increase Dental Insurance Value
Maine legislators are considering a law change to try to make dental insurance a better value for consumers in the state. The proposal is based on the Affordable Care Act rule that requires health insurers to have an 80% medical loss ratio. That means the insurers spend 80 cents of every dollar on customers claims and on items that improve care quality, lawmakers said. (3/23)
AP:
EPA Moves To End Asbestos Cleanup Along Montana Railroad
Environmental regulators are moving to end a years-long cleanup along dozens of miles of railroad in two northwestern Montana communities where lung-damaging asbestos from mining has been blamed in hundreds of deaths. The asbestos came from mining vermiculite that was processed and shipped by rail across the country for use as insulation, as a gardening soil additive and for other purposes. (Brown, 3/23)
AP:
Blackfeet Tribe Declares Emergency After Drug Overdoses
Blackfeet Tribal leaders declared a state of emergency on the northwestern Montana reservation following a string of fentanyl overdoses and drug-related deaths. There were four deaths tied to drugs and 17 overdoses over a one week period this month, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council said Monday. Tribal leaders say they will set up a drug prevention task force to help combat the problem. (2/23)
The New York Times:
Cities Lost Population In 2021, Leading To The Slowest Year Of Growth In U.S. History
Substantial population loss in some of the nation’s largest and most vibrant cities was the primary reason 2021 was the slowest year of population growth in U.S. history, new Census data shows. Although some of the fastest growing regions in the country continued to boom, the gains were nearly erased by stark losses last year in counties that encompass the New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas. (Gebeloff, Goldstein and Hu, 3/24)
Boston Herald:
Cholesterol And Glucose Levels At Age 35 Are Linked To Future Risk Of Alzheimer’s, Boston Researchers Find
Getting your cholesterol and glucose levels in a healthy range at a young age could save you from an Alzheimer’s diagnosis later in life. That’s according to Boston University School of Medicine researchers, who found that lower HDL (high-density “good” cholesterol) and high triglyceride levels at age 35 are linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. The Boston scientists in this new study also concluded that high blood glucose levels measured between ages 51 and 60 is associated with Alzheimer’s risk in the future. (Sobey, 3/23)
Stat:
Scientists Test Common Bacteria As A Weapon To Target Pancreatic Tumors
Pancreatic cancer has proved one of the most deadly forms of the disease, and the most difficult to crack. It shrugs off immunotherapy drugs and resists chemotherapy, and only about 10% of patients live longer than five years after diagnosis. But Albert Einstein College of Medicine immunologist and microbiologist Claudia Gravekamp is trying a new, unconventional approach: using Listeria bacteria to develop an immunotherapy that makes pancreatic tumors vulnerable to immune attacks. The results from her experiments in mice, published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, found the therapy can extend survival by 40% — a figure that experts said was very promising, though preliminary, and warranted further research in humans. (Chen, 3/23)
USA Today:
Researchers Warn Of Tick-Borne Heartland Virus In US. What To Know About The Viral Pathogen
The Heartland virus is circulating in ticks in Georgia, researchers warn. A new study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases last week and led by researchers from Emory University analyzed virus samples from ticks collected in central Georgia. But the Heartland virus, first identified in Missouri in 2009, has been documented in multiple states across the Midwest and Southeast. But what does that mean for your next hiking or camping trip? Is it time to be on the lookout for ticks that could carry the virus? (Pitofsky, 3/23)
The Boston Globe:
Families Push Lawmakers To Help Kids With Special Education Needs
One family after another testified before the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday about their desperate, often fruitless, struggles to get schools to accommodate their children’s special needs and disabilities. Some of them held photos of their children as they spoke before lawmakers. Their words were emotional and, at times, heartbreaking. Lawmakers heard about Dillon, who has autism and sensory disorder, and started first grade by being sent to “an autism room” when teachers didn’t know what to do with him. When he misbehaved or took off his clothes, they called 911, said his mother, Renee Smith of Coventry, R.I.. She found another public school, just down the road, which had a comprehensive behavioral program that met his needs. She worries about what will happen next year, when he changes schools for sixth grade. (Milkovits, 3/23)
NBC News:
Disability Advocates Say Amanda Bynes' Conservatorship Case Isn't The Norm
Amanda Bynes' conservatorship was terminated Tuesday without public contention or fanfare. But disability advocates say her case is not the norm, and warn against using Bynes as evidence that conservatorships don't need to be reformed. Bynes' parents filed to place her in a conservatorship in 2013, following what the former child actor previously described as a dark period in her life. Her case has rarely played out in the public eye and draws a contrast to that of pop star Britney Spears, whose conservatorship was dissolved after a protracted, public court battle and has led to legal reform efforts in California. (Madani, 3/23)
Fox News:
European Society Of Cardiology Bans Russian Docs Amid Ukraine Invasion
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC), an international community of cardiologists, said in a statement sent to Fox News, that it paused the memberships of the Russian Society of Cardiology and the Belarussian Society of Cardiologists amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which is also one of its member countries. Cardiologists in Russia or Belarus are also barred from any ESC event, including presenters, the statement said. "Please let us emphasize that this extraordinary measure is not at all directed against cardiologists, scientists, and other ESC members from the Russian Federation or Belarus. They are not to blame for the war. They are our friends and colleagues in the fight against cardiovascular disease." Stephan Achenbach, President of the ESC, said in the statement. (McGorry, 3/23)
Reuters:
Ukraine Uses Facial Recognition To Identify Dead Russian Soldiers, Minister Says
Ukraine is using facial recognition software to identify the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in combat and to trace their families to inform them of their deaths, Ukraine's vice prime minister told Reuters. Reuters exclusively reported that Ukraine's Ministry of Defense this month began using technology from Clearview AI, a New York-based facial recognition provider that finds images on the web that match faces from uploaded photos. It was not clear at that time how the technology would be used. (Dave, 3/23)
Bloomberg:
Sweden Jumps The Gun On Covid Strategist’s New WHO Job
Sweden’s announcement that Anders Tegnell, the mastermind behind the Scandinavian country’s controversial Covid-19 strategy, had been hired by the World Health Organization has turned out to be premature. The March 9 report by Sweden’s Public Health Agency FHM said that Tegnell had resigned as state epidemiologist to become a senior expert in a group that will coordinate the work between the WHO, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and vaccine organization Gavi. Svenska Dagbladet first reported that the announcement was met with “surprise and confusion” within the WHO. (Jungstedt, 3/23)
CIDRAP:
Global COVID-19 Cases Climb For Second Week In A Row
Led mainly by surges in Asian hot spots, COVID-19 cases last week increased for the second straight week, though deaths continued to fall, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its weekly pandemic update. Last week marked a turnaround in a 5-week decline in cases. In the continued rise this week, cases were up 7% compared to the week before, the WHO said. Cases were up 21% in the Western Pacific region, an area that includes locations experiencing surges, including South Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. (Schnirring, 3/23)