Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC: Halloween Masks Don't Offer Protection
CNET: Halloween Costume Masks Don't Replace Face Masks, CDC Warns
Halloween celebrations will look different this year, with some regions warning against trick-or-treating due to coronavirus restrictions. But hey, at least costumed revelers will be masked and protected, right? Wrong. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its online holiday guidance Monday, warning that your average costume mask does not protect against the virus. "Do not use a costume mask (such as for Halloween) as a substitute for a cloth mask unless it is made of two or more layers of breathable fabric that covers your mouth and nose and doesn't leave gaps around your face," the website reads. (Cooper, 9/22)
Kaiser Health News: A Fair To Remember: County Fairs Weigh Risk Of Outbreak Against Financial Ruin
Laura Stutzman had no doubts that this year’s Twin Falls County Fair should go on despite the pandemic still raging across the U.S. — and several outbreaks tied to such community fairs. Though she saw few people wearing masks from her volunteer station in the fair’s hospitality tent in southern Idaho earlier this month, she said she wasn’t concerned. Stutzman, 63, had been attending the fair off and on for 30 years, and she didn’t consider this year that different. People in rural communities know how to respect one another’s space, she said, and don’t have time to “fret and worry” about the coronavirus. (Franz, 9/24)
ABC News: Airlines Under Scrutiny Over Mask Policies As Parents With Toddlers Get Kicked Off Flights
Rachel Davis was brought to tears last week as she pleaded with American Airlines gate agents after getting booted from a flight because her 2-year-old son would not wear a mask. "What do you want me to do -- duct tape his face?" she asked. "He's 2 years old, he doesn't get it!" (Kaji, 9/23)
The New York Times: How Burnout Became The Norm For American Parents
Burnout occurs when the distance between the ideal and the possible lived reality becomes too much to bear. That’s true of the workplace, and that’s true of parenting. The common denominator among millennials, then, is that we’ve been inculcated with the idea that failure — like our failure to find secure employment, or save enough money to buy a house, or stave off an avalanche of medical debt — can be chalked up to simply not trying hard enough. Sure, “perfect parenting” doesn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean we don’t feel all the more compelled to achieve it, even as we burn ourselves — and our marriages, and our personal lives, and our mental health — into the ground. (Petersen, 9/22)
The New York Times: Dust Off Desks And Boot Up Terminals: Wall St. Returns, Fitfully
Six months ago, New York’s financial industry abandoned its corner offices, conference rooms and trading floors almost overnight as the coronavirus raged across the city. The industry’s return to office life, by contrast, has been shambolic. The Midtown Manhattan offices of Mudrick Capital, a hedge fund, never closed, but workers were required to return only after Labor Day. ... “Covid is effectively gone from New York,” said Jason Mudrick, who runs Mudrick Capital, explaining why he sees little reason to keep his 26 employees home. “I personally think that all my hedge fund colleagues who are not coming back until later are just taking it as an excuse to have a long summer vacation.” (Kelly, 9/23)
