Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Beyond Ventilators: Outbreak Shines Light On Nation's Lack Of Medical Equipment During Times Of Crisis
The New York Times: There Aren’t Enough Ventilators To Cope With The Coronavirus
As the United States braces for an onslaught of coronavirus cases, hospitals and governments are confronting a grim reality: There are not nearly enough lifesaving ventilator machines to go around, and there is no way to solve the problem before the disease reaches full throttle. Desperate hospitals say they can’t find anywhere to buy the medical devices, which help patients breathe and can be the difference between life and death for those facing the most dire respiratory effects of the coronavirus. (Kliff, Satariano, Silver-Greenberg and Kulish, 3/18)
Politico: FDA Turns To Twitter To Help Track Testing Supply Shortages
The FDA is so desperate for information about shortages in coronavirus testing supplies that it is turning to an unlikely source of information: Twitter. Wading into the Wild West of social media for help during a global pandemic may seem unsophisticated for an agency charged with regulating the nation’s drugs and medical devices. But thanks to a decades-old law, the FDA cannot require device manufacturers to report shortages in the same way it can for drugmakers. (Lim, 3/18)
The New York Times: Coronavirus Test Obstacles: A Shortage Of Face Masks And Swabs
Just as the nation’s ability to test for coronavirus is expanding, hospitals and clinics say another obstacle is looming: shortages of testing swabs and protective gear for health care workers. At the UCSF Health — a San Francisco hospital system at the heart of one of the nation’s coronavirus outbreaks — officials said they would have to stop testing patients in about five days because they will run out of nasopharyngeal swabs, which are inserted into the nasal passage of patients to get samples for testing. Other hospitals elsewhere in the country were ending their practice of using a second swab to test for the flu in an effort to preserve their supply. (Thomas, 3/18)
CNN: Severe Shortages Of Swabs And Other Supplies Hamper Coronavirus Testing
Even as commercial laboratories have ramped up coronavirus testing, frontline medical workers across the country are reporting a new, dire problem: A shortage of related materials needed to conduct the tests. Medical officials at several state health departments, hospitals and labs have told CNN they need more testing swabs, reagents, pipettes and other material needed to conduct the Covid-19 tests. (Kuznia, Devine and Griffin, 3/18)
Politico: 'It Is Not Science Fiction Anymore': Coronavirus Exposes U.S. Vulnerability To Biowarfare
A critical lack of testing kits. A shortage of ventilators. Not enough ICU beds. America’s struggle to deal with the spread of the highly infectious new virus Covid-19 is bad enough, with the number of confirmed cases surging, hospitals begging for help and entire cities going on lockdown. But it’s also exposed just how unprepared the U.S. is for a threat many would-be Cassandras have been warning about for years: a targeted biological attack. (Bertrand and Lippman, 3/19)
Politico: Will Trump Be Able To Get Emergency Medical Supplies Fast Enough?
The Trump administration has yet to complete a comprehensive assessment, despite weeks of discussion about using the act to help prevent the medical system from being overrun, according to current and former administration officials. Even Trump said on Wednesday that he's in no hurry to order the supplies. In an executive order issued Wednesday afternoon, Trump granted authority primarily to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to determine “the proper nationwide priorities” and to allocate all necessary health and medical resources and services. Azar will work with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the heads of other agencies as appropriate, the order says. (Bender and Cassella, 3/18)
Politico: Hospitals Need A Surge — Of Doctors
Hospitals are struggling to find enough doctors, nurses and other health care workers to care for mounting numbers of critically ill coronavirus patients. The staffing problems are on top of the equipment problems — the lack of ICU beds, ventilators, and masks and other protective equipment needed to prevent the healers from becoming patients. (Roubein and Kenen, 3/18)
The New York Times: A Nebraska Hospital Aimed To Contain The Coronavirus. But It Had Already Spread.
Just a month ago — back when hardly anyone in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus, back when the federal government spoke hopefully about keeping the virus from spreading in American cities, back when the mass cancellation of school and work and basketball seemed unimaginable — a small hospital ward in Omaha was at the center of the country’s effort to quash the illness. Nebraska Medicine’s Biocontainment Unit is where the federal government sends people with the most fearsome pathogens. In 2014, its doctors and nurses treated Americans who contracted Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone. (Smith, 3/18)
The Wall Street Journal: New York City Weighs Turning Hotels Into Hospitals
New York City is working with the hospitality industry to possibly convert entire hotels into hospitals for patients without the novel coronavirus, in an effort to increase capacity at medical facilities as the outbreak grows. The city’s emergency management commissioner, Deanne Criswell, said in an interview Wednesday that hotels could be vital as New York City needs more beds to treat those with Covid-19. (Honan, 3/18)
The Hill: De Blasio Calls On Trump To Deploy Military To Set Up Hospitals In New York
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) is calling on President Trump to deploy the U.S. military to New York in an effort to fight the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak. “President Trump has to mobilize the United States military to fully act in the coronavirus situation,” de Blasio said Wednesday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.” (Klar, 3/18)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: Homeless People Could Be Tipping Point For Hospitals
The catastrophic potential is painful to consider: State models show that 60,000 homeless people could be hit by the novel coronavirus, with up to 20% of them needing hospitalization. That would mean California would need 12,000 hospital beds just for those living on the streets — a formidable task for a state that is already struggling to find extra capacity to manage the pandemic before it’s too late and hospitals become overwhelmed by too many patients. (Chabria, 3/18)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia Area Hospitals Conserving Blood Amid Nationwide Donation Shortfall
The American Red Cross and the medical facilities it supplies are experiencing a massive blood shortage as an “unprecedented” number of blood drives have been canceled regionally and across the country, as workplaces and schools have closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The shortage means local hospitals are working to conserve the blood supplies they do have. (Orso, 3/18)
