Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Black Georgia Residents Fearful, Mistrustful Of Governor's Decision To Reopen
The Washington Post: ‘For Black Folks, It’s Like A Setup: Are You Trying To Kill Us?’
Sheryl Means already has lost so much to the invisible virus burning through her hometown. Her mother and her aunt died within days of each other. Her sister has been on a ventilator for weeks in a hospital miles away, and there are no visitors allowed in the covid-19 isolation unit. She has this tightness in her chest, and she’s scared she might be next. But Means can’t get a test. Even now, six weeks into a national emergency, with the death toll still climbing in southwest Georgia, and her kin sick from the novel coronavirus. (Thebault, Ba Tran and Williams, 4/26)
The Washington Post: Covid-19 Is Ravaging One Of The Country’s Wealthiest Black Counties
The intensive care unit at Inova Alexandria Hospital has empty beds, and doctors are prepared for a rush of coronavirus patients that has yet to hit the largely white suburb. A dozen miles away at Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Hospital Center, the ICU is full, and employees treat coronavirus patients in medical tents in the parking lot. Paramedics across Prince George’s County are summoned daily to help people struggling to breathe, and funeral home directors are searching for more places to store bodies. (Chason, Wiggins and Harden, 4/26)
In other news on health care disparities highlighted by the pandemic —
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Forces Poor Americans To Wait In Long Lines For Basic Services
The sun had barely risen over East 149th Street in the South Bronx when Edward Halls, 70, got in line. He had seen how long the line was the day before and realized that life now required a plan.“I passed by and said, ‘I’m not going to drink any water. I’ll bring the chair. I’ll leave early. I was going to leave at 7:30 but my sister said, ‘No, you better leave at 7.’ ” (McCrummen, 4/26)
