Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Breakthrough In Diagnosing CTE In Living Patients
Axios: Scientists Publish Criteria For Diagnosing CTE In Living People For First Time
Scientists have produced the first consensus criteria to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living people. As of now, CTE can only be diagnosed after death. But a new paper, written by over 20 scientists, is a step toward a "biomarker" that could definitively say whether a living person has the disease. (Baker, 3/23)
In other public health news —
Dallas Morning News: Texas Expands Nursing Home Visitation To Allow More Contact Between Residents And Loved Ones
The state is expanding visitation at nursing homes, allowing fully vaccinated residents to have close contact with loved ones. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services laid out the new guidelines Tuesday. (Morris, 3/23)
The Washington Post: Nearly Half Of All Schools In The U.S. Are Open Full-Time, Survey Says
The first federal data on education during the pandemic finds nearly half of public schools were open for full-time, face-to-face classes, with White children far more likely than Black, Hispanic or Asian American students to be attending in person. The data suggests the nation is both close to a goal set by President Biden for a return to school and a considerable distance to a full return to normalcy. The survey also raised questions about the quality of education being delivered to those learning from home. About one-third of schools offer two hours or less of live instruction per day for those learning either full or part-time at home. Some offer none. (Meckler, 3/24)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Braves: All-Star Game Will Be `First Global Event’ With Capacity Crowd Since Pandemic
The Atlanta Braves estimate that Truist Park will be operating at 100 percent capacity by June and that 100,000 people will attend events as part of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, which the Braves will host in July. Longtime Braves’ executive Mike Plant told Cobb County commissioners on Tuesday that the Mid-Summer Classic will be “the first global event” to be held with a full-capacity crowd since the pandemic took hold last year. The game will be held at Truist Park on July 13. (Deere, 3/23)
The Virginian-Pilot: A Norfolk Hot Dog Shop Started Feeding Those In Need For Free. A Flood Of Nationwide Support Followed.
At the end of February, Tarah Morris began a program called Franks for Friends at her Norfolk hot dog and burger shop, Perfectly Frank, offering one free meal per day to anyone who needs one. “If you’re broke and hungry, we got you!” read the sign they put out in front of the restaurant, at 4408 Monarch Way on the Old Dominion University campus. “One free meal per person per day. No questions asked. ”The idea came after a customer gifted her shop $2,000 to help employees and anyone else in need. From there, she started a fund, allowing customers to pay forward a meal if they’d like to do so. Enough did so that the program became self-sustaining: She’s given out 125 meals so far. (Korfhage, 3/23)
Also —
The Washington Post: World Happiness Report Has Surprisingly Good News
In a conclusion that even surprised its editors, the 2021 World Happiness Report found that, amid global hardship, self-reported life satisfaction across 95 countries on average remained steady in 2020 from the previous year. The United States saw the same trend — despite societal tumult that yielded a national drop in positive emotions and a rise in negative ones. The country fell one spot, to 19th, in the annual rankings of the report, which was released Saturday. The report is good news regarding global resilience, experts say. (Bacic, 3/23)
