Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bogus Health News On Facebook Has Drawn Billions Of Views, Report Finds
Politico: Report: 'Superspreaders' Of Bogus Health News Racked Up Billions Of Views On Facebook
Groups and pages that spread misleading health news attracted an estimated 3.8 billion views on Facebook in the past year, an activist group said in a report Wednesday — adding that those networks pushing bogus claims drew far more traffic than authoritative sources on topics like Covid-19. The report, published by the nonprofit activist group Avaaz, drew immediate scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers about the tech giant’s efforts to combat phony coronavirus news. (Lima, 8/19)
The Hill: Health Misinformation Has Been Viewed Nearly 4 Billion Times On Facebook Over Last Year: Study
The reach of the top spreaders of health misinformation far eclipsed that of leading health organizations on the platform, according to the report, which also raises concerns about Facebook’s efforts to reign in misleading content. Researchers found that only 16 percent of the health misinformation they uncovered had a warning label placed on it. (Mills Rodrigo, 8/19)
In other COVID-related public health news —
The Wall Street Journal: What Derailed America’s Covid Testing: Three Lost Weeks
Alex Azar’s face reddened when he heard the news: The only federally authorized tests to detect whether Americans were infected with the new coronavirus were flawed, and officials couldn’t identify what was causing the problem. The Health and Human Services secretary listened on a speaker phone with advisers on Feb. 18, according to an attendee, as a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official told him the agency hadn’t yet found a fix to the problem in the CDC-designed test. (Armour, Abbott, Burton and McKay, 8/18)
WBUR: How The Pandemic Is Making The Gender Pay Gap Worse
In typical recessions, consumers cut back spending on expensive items like cars, refrigerators, computers and houses, which ravages manufacturing, construction and other industries that disproportionately employ men. Men's unemployment numbers shoot up. Meanwhile, female-dominated professions in areas such as education, health care and in-person services tended to be more recession-proof. And, in what's known as "the second-earner effect," many women actually enter the labor force or increase their work hours during recessions as a way to help their families while the primary male breadwinner struggles. This helps tamp down the female unemployment rate. (Rosalsky, 8/18)
The New York Times: How Children’s Sleep Habits Have Changed In The Pandemic
So how are you sleeping these days? Some children — and adolescents — may actually be getting more sleep, or better sleep, while others are struggling with disrupted routines, anxiety and electronics, sometimes all at the same time. And even for those who have settled into new schedules that leave them reasonably well rested, back-to-school season may mean a possibly problematic reset. (Klass, 8/17)
In news about the elderly —
The Wall Street Journal: Connecticut’s Covid-19 Plan Left Out Nursing Homes, Report Finds
Connecticut health officials failed to develop a plan to protect nursing homes in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and were also hampered by an outdated outbreak-monitoring system, according to an independent, state-funded report. The Connecticut Department of Public Health produced an emergency-response plan focused exclusively on hospitals that didn’t meaningfully address long-term-care facilities, according to an interim-report released Tuesday by Mathematica Policy Research, a research firm. That plan also incorrectly assumed that there would be sufficient personal-protection equipment, such as masks and gowns, available and that only noninfected staff would work in health-care facilities. (De Avila, 8/18)
The Baltimore Sun: ‘These Are Very Challenging Times’: Ellicott City Residents Join Program To Get Telehealth Access To Seniors
Ellicott City resident Isuru Herath had been home from Cornell University for two months when he began searching for a way to fill his time. Like many college students, the 18-year-old was adjusting to life away from campus. For Herath, that meant looking for ways to volunteer. (Faguy, 8/19)
