Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
China Tests Thousands Again: New Outbreak In Beijing Is Largest In Two Months, Forces Postponement Of School Reopenings
The Associated Press: China's New Virus Outbreak Underscores Continued Threat
China’s capital was bracing Monday for a resurgence of the coronavirus after more than 100 new cases were reported in recent days in a city that hadn’t seen a case of local transmission in more than a month. The United States, meanwhile, continued to struggle with an outbreak that appeared ready to stretch on for months or even years, and the governor of hard-hit New York state threatened to reinstate business closings. (Moritsugu, 6/15)
NPR: Beijing In 'Wartime Emergency Mode' Amid Fresh Cluster Of Coronavirus Cases
Authorities say there have been seven new cases in the past three days, all of which are connected to the Xinfadi market, the city's largest wholesale food market. Health officials said Saturday that, of the 517 samples that they took from market workers the day before, 45 tested positive for the virus. Under China's standards for confirming coronavirus cases — which exclude asymptomatic individuals — this cluster of people won't be counted as confirmed unless they begin displaying symptoms and come up positive on a separate nucleic acid test. (Dwyer and Cheng, 6/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Beijing Coronavirus Outbreak Tied To Huge Market Sparks Resurgence Concerns
Chinese health authorities shut parts of Beijing and adopted tight controls after the capital confirmed a record number of new Covid-19 infections, sparking growing concerns about a coronavirus resurgence. Beijing had recorded almost 80 new cases by Sunday, all locally transmitted and linked to Xinfadi, a sprawling meat and vegetable wholesale market in the southwestern district of Fengtai that supplies most of the city’s fruit and vegetables, officials said. (Hua, 6/14)
The Associated Press: Europe's Borders Reopen But Long Road For Tourism To Recover
Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it’s unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. Border checks for most Europeans were dropped overnight in Germany, France and elsewhere, nearly two weeks after Italy opened its frontiers. (Moulson, 6/15)
The New York Times: Pakistan’s Lockdown Ended A Month Ago. Now Hospital Signs Read ‘Full.’
Pakistanis stricken by the coronavirus are being turned away from hospitals that have simply closed their gates and put up signs reading “full house.” Doctors and nurses are falling ill at alarming rates, and are also coming under physical assault from desperate and angry families. When Pakistan’s government lifted its lockdown on May 9, it warned that the already impoverished country could no longer withstand the shutdown needed to mitigate the pandemic’s spread. But now left unshackled, the virus is meting out devastation in other ways, and panic is rising. (ur-Rehman, Masood and Abi-Habib, 6/15)
The Associated Press: Russia's Low Virus Death Toll Still Raises Questions In West
When Leonid Shlykov’s father, Sergei, died in a Moscow hospital last month after 11 days on a ventilator, the death certificate listed the coronavirus as an underlying condition but not the actual cause of death. “Yes, he was suffering from impaired kidney function and diabetes, but if it hadn’t been for COVID-19, he would’ve been alive,” the son wrote on Facebook. “If we had known the real number of infections and deaths … it would have helped us make the decision to hospitalize (dad) earlier.” (Litvinova and Isachenkov, 6/14)
Reuters: As Quarantine Wanes, Bogota's Medics Brace For A Spike In COVID Cases
A COVID patient lies shirtless on a gurney in a chill corridor of a hospital in Colombia’s capital Bogota, oxygen tubes coiled on his chest. It takes five staff - in scrubs, masks and face shields - to wheel him into the intensive care unit. His intubation takes time. To protect themselves from coronavirus-infected saliva during the complicated procedure, the medics place a large orb-like shield over the man’s head. (Cobb, 6/14)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Education: Millions Of Girls At Risk Of Leaving School Because Of Pandemic Shutdowns
She was 13 when the Ebola virus struck her country, shuttering schools across Sierra Leone. The closures lasted nine months, but Mari Kalokoh could not return to the classroom for years. “I felt like nobody,” she recalled of her time on the street, begging for food. Now a radio has replaced her teacher in the era of the coronavirus. The previous epidemic in West Africa forced more girls than boys to halt their studies in the ensuing years, from 2014 to 2016, researchers say, dimming economic prospects for a generation of young women. (Paquette, 6/13)
NBC News: Chinese Consulates Deploying 'Mask Diplomacy' In U.S. Communities
As the coronavirus was lashing Louisiana last month, hospital workers in the small town of Monroe lined up before work for a free lunch from a nearby steakhouse — paid for by the Chinese government. When the meals arrived in a big white truck, a local newspaper photographer was on hand to capture the moment as health care workers, still in scrubs, held up signs with big red hearts. The Chinese Consulate in Houston, working with a local World War II museum, had donated meals for everyone at Monroe's St. Francis Medical Center, which had been hit hard by COVID-19. (Lederman, 6/15)
Reuters: Coronavirus Hitting The Americas Hardest Says World Health Organization
The Americas are bearing the brunt of the global coronavirus pandemic at present, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, with North and South America currently having four of the 10 worst hit countries in the world. The disease was “highly active” in Central and South America, the WHO’s top emergency expert Mike Ryan said, highlighting problems in Brazil and Mexico. (Revill and Nebehay, 6/12)
The New York Times: Coronavirus Created An Obstacle Course For Safe Abortions
When a 19-year-old woman from southern Poland decided to end her pregnancy at 18 weeks, she knew the only way to get an abortion was to rush to a neighboring European country. Abortion is illegal in most circumstances in Poland, and so for years, many women have traveled within Europe to seek the procedure. But it was April, and across the continent, borders were closing fast because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Stevis-Gridneff, Haridasani Gupta and Pronczuk, 6/14)
The New York Times: Brazil President Embraces Unproven ‘Cure’ As Pandemic Surges
The coronavirus was taking root in Latin America when President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil startled the medical community with a claim: A miracle drug was on hand. “God is Brazilian, the cure is right here!” the president exclaimed in late March to a throng of supporters. “Chloroquine is working everywhere. ”Since then, the virus has ripped through Brazil. More than 41,000 people have died — Brazil has now passed Britain and has recorded more fatalities than any country other than the United States — and the daily death toll is now the highest in the world, bucking the downward trend that is allowing other major economies to reopen. (Londono and Simoes, 6/13)
