CDC Denies Native American Tribes’ Requests For Coronavirus Data That Is Freely Available To States
Native Americans have been particularly hard hit by COVID-19, yet tribal leaders say that federal and state governments are blocking their efforts to gather data on how the virus is spreading around their lands. In other health IT news: cell phone data shows many Americans are no longer social distancing; urgent care clinics make upgrades; Twitter targets Chinese misinformation; and EPA cracks down on bogus products sold online.
Politico:
American Indian Tribes Thwarted In Efforts To Get Coronavirus Data
Federal and state health agencies are refusing to give Native American tribes and organizations representing them access to data showing how the coronavirus is spreading around their lands, potentially widening health disparities and frustrating tribal leaders already ill-equipped to contain the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has turned down tribal epidemiologists’ requests for data that it’s making freely available to states. Authorities in Michigan and Massachusetts since early spring have also resisted handing over information on testing and confirmed cases, citing privacy concerns, and refused to strike agreements with tribes on contact tracing or other surveillance, eight tribal leaders and health experts told POLITICO. (Tahir and Cancryn, 6/11)
NBC News:
Analysis: Data From 15 Million Phones Shows Some Americans Are Gathering At Pre-Pandemic Levels
Americans have been keeping their distance from one another since late March. But new data suggests that those habits are coming to an end for more than 10 million people. According to an NBC News analysis of cellphone location data provided by the analytics and marketing company Cuebiq, people in more than 450 counties across the country have started to come near one another more frequently. And as people begin to gather in greater numbers, health officials are watching for a new round of coronavirus spikes. (Chiwaya, 6/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Urgent-Care Clinics Turn To Technology To Meet Coronavirus Challenge
Experity Inc., a company that sells software for urgent-care walk-in clinics, has had to quickly build new tools to meet customer demands during the coronavirus pandemic. The Machesney Park, Ill., company accelerated the development and launch of a telemedicine application and also built a feature to allow Covid-19 patients to check in to their urgent-care appointments. Both tools debuted in March. “We had to respond very quickly for our clients,” said David Stern, Experity’s chief executive. (Castellanos, 6/11)
The New York Times:
Twitter Removes Chinese Misinformation Campaign
China has stepped up its effort to spread misinformation on Twitter, creating tens of thousands of fake accounts that discussed protests in Hong Kong and the Communist Party’s response to the coronavirus, Twitter said on Thursday. The company said it had discovered and removed 23,750 accounts that were “highly engaged” in a coordinated effort to spread misinformation. Twitter said it also took down about 150,000 accounts that were dedicated to boosting China’s messages by retweeting and liking the content. (Conger, 6/11)
NPR:
EPA Orders Amazon And EBay To Stop Selling Bogus Coronavirus-Fighting Products
On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Amazon and eBay to stop selling certain pesticide-containing products, many of which claimed to fight off and disinfect from the coronavirus. The orders also bar the e-commerce giants from selling products that contain toxic chemicals like chlorine dioxide and methylene chloride, which is federally regulated as a toxic substance. (Hagemann, 6/11)
