Latest KFF Health News Stories
Viewpoints: Lessons On Opening Classrooms; Pros, Cons Of Pre-Vaccine Treatments
Editorial pages focus on these pandemic topics and others.
Parsing Policies: Supplement Helped Unemployed And Economy; Lockdowns Didn’t Cause Economy To Tank
Opinion writers weigh in on important government decisions pertaining to the pandemic and other issues, as well, including how Italy and Sweden are dealing with a second wave.
Research: ‘Electronic Skin’ Could Return Sense Of Touch To Prosthetic Users
Researchers In Singapore were inspired by movie scenes in which Luke Skywalker sensed things through a robotic hand. Also, news on research into dementia, nutrition, dinosaurs’ cancer and more.
New Drinking Water Standards Take Effect In Michigan
Also: How California cut its prison population; Massachusetts’ reopening plan could be rolled back; two teens die of COVID in Florida; and other news from Hawaii, Montana and Kentucky.
What’s Going On Around The Globe
News on how other countries are trying to deal with renewed coronavirus outbreaks.
New Jersey Orders All Students To Wear Masks
In other education news: classes begin in Mississippi; fewer parents in poll want full-time, in-person schooling; how other countries are dealing with education; and more.
California Lays Out Rules For Opening Schools
The only exceptions to the state’s much-anticipated guidelines are elementary schools that receive a public health waiver.
How Amusement Parks, Sports Teams Are Trying To Play It Safe
Nickelodeon Universe plans to reopen Aug. 10 with lots of hand sanitizing. Pro sports teams have different concerns, especially about who can play and how they can play.
Recovery For People With Mild Cases Brings Freedom To Some, Anxiety To Others
Some people say they’re finally flying and eating inside restaurants again. Public health news is on children testing positive, dangers from not wearing masks, essential workers and more.
Report: Life Expectancy Is Better In Blue States With Stringent Regulations
“States that have invested in their populations’ social and economic well-being by enacting more liberal policies over time tend to be the same states that have made considerable gains in life expectancy,” the study’s authors wrote. Other public health news on vaccinations, HIV and homelessness.
Nursing Homes, Hospitals in New York Lose Immunity Over Non-COVID Care
President Donald Trump’s plan to provide nursing homes with a speedy COVID testing machine puts a limit on the number of test kits. Other nursing home news is out of Massachusetts and West Virginia.
Obituary Blaming Mask-Deniers Goes Viral
The wife of a man who died from COVID-19 blames President Trump, the governor of Texas and people who won’t wear masks for her husband’s death, while a man allegedly shoots a store employee who requests he don one.
FDA Urged To Ban Music From Prescription Drug Ads
Advocacy groups argue that the music distracts from the side effects mentioned in advertisements. In other industry news: NIH tells drug and medical device makers to release all trial data; a remdesivir alternative?; the costs of medicine; and more hand sanitizer warnings.
Trump Threatens Mail-In Voting Executive Order
“I have the right to do it,” President Donald Trump said, though he did not say what such a measure would entail. As more states consider action to protect voters’ health, the administration takes Nevada to court over its move toward universal mail-in ballots.
Study: Despite PPE, Health Care Workers 3 Times More Likely Than Public To Get COVID
Other health industry news includes: Some rural communities have no ICU beds; Oklahoma gets its third lead epidemiologist of the pandemic. Also, news from Kindred, Dignity and Tenet.
Trump Signs Medicare Order Expanding Use Of Telehealth In Rural Areas
In other news, Missouri voters will decide Tuesday whether to expand Medicaid health care coverage to thousands more low-income adults.
Slow Progress Claimed On Stimulus Bill While Trump Floats Executive Orders
President Donald Trump singled out evictions and payroll taxes as areas where he may attempt to take action, as a legislative deal on the next round of coronavirus relief is unlikely to be struck this week.
Trump Again Promises An ACA Replacement
Though he has promised a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act many times before, and never delivered, President Trump re-upped the promise. This time, by the end of August, he says.
Cases Swell In Midwest; Northeast Uptick Watched Carefully
And Mississippi is closing in on Florida to be the state with the most infections per capita. In one positive sign: the U.S. just reported the smallest daily case increase in over four weeks.
Trump Disputes Birx’s Assessment Of Outbreak’s Dangerous Phase
While characterizing the coronavirus pandemic as “receding” and “under control,” President Donald Trump reinforced a pattern of criticizing his own public health officials after Dr. Deborah Birx delivered a more dire warning.