Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
COVID Anxiety Is Leading People To Make Irrational Decisions When It Comes To Other Medical Care
The New York Times: Fear Of Covid Leads Other Patients To Decline Critical Treatment
It was the call Lance Hansen, gravely ill with liver disease, had been waiting weeks for, and it came just before midnight in late April. A liver was available for him. He got up to get dressed for the three-hour drive to San Francisco for the transplant surgery. And then he panicked. “Within five minutes after hanging up, he started hyperventilating,” his wife, Carmen, said. “He kept saying: ‘I’m going to get Covid, and then I’m going to die. And if I die, I want my family there.’ I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.” (Hafner, 5/25)
Bangor Daily News: Nearly Half Of Mainers Have Delayed Medical Care Because Of The Coronavirus
Almost 47 percent of Maine’s adult population has delayed medical care since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, according to a recent survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. That rate is third-highest among states, behind only Oregon and Virginia. It is a side effect of business restrictions put into place by the state and health providers because of the virus. (Schroeder, 5/26)
The Wall Street Journal: More People Are Taking Drugs For Anxiety And Insomnia, And Doctors Are Worried
Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications and sleep aids have risen during the pandemic, prompting doctors to warn about the possibility of long-term addiction and abuse of the drugs. “Many physicians have a low threshold for prescribing them. It’s very problematic,” says Bruce J. Schwartz, deputy chair and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “Many people do develop a dependency on these medications.” (Petersen, 5/25)
The New York Times: You’re Getting Used To Masks. Will You Wear A Face Shield?
The debate over whether Americans should wear face masks to control coronavirus transmission has been settled. Governments and businesses now require or at least recommend them in many public settings. But as parts of the country reopen, some doctors want you to consider another layer of personal protective equipment in your daily life: clear plastic face shields. “I wear a face shield every time I enter a store or other building,” said Dr. Eli Perencevich. “Sometimes I also wear a cloth mask if required by the store’s policy.” (Sheikh, 5/24)
ABC News: NYC Launches $100,000 Effort To Combat Anti-Asian Discrimination In COVID-19 Era
The New York City Commission on Human Rights is launching a massive effort to combat anti-Asian bias as reports of COVID-19-related discrimination skyrocket. "This type of discrimination and harassment is not something that happens out of nowhere in a pandemic, this is based in deep-seated miseducation and racism," said Carmelyn Malalis, the commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. "I know that people doubt that there is any such thing as anti-Asian discrimination, and people have said that to my face." (Thorbecke, 5/26)
NBC News: Faith, Family And Plasma: How One Man Survived 'The Horror Of COVID-19'
Room 5 of the COVID-19 critical care unit was largely silent, save for the occasional alarms from machines keeping Ron Panzok alive. Few people entered the room. Physical examinations were limited to once per day to reduce the chances of spreading the coronavirus responsible for putting Panzok, 66, of New York City, in North Shore University Hospital, part of Northwell Health, on Long Island in mid-March. Hospital restrictions prevented his family from visiting. (Edwards, 5/25)
ProPublica: What Parents Should Know About Coronavirus As Kids Return To Babysitters, Day Cares And Camps
Reopening states after the COVID-19 lockdown raises unnerving questions for working parents who depend on some form of child care, from nannies to day camp. Instead of coming home with a snotty nose, is your child going to bring back the coronavirus? And how do you know your in-home babysitter or nanny, even your child’s teacher, isn’t a symptom-free spreader?The short answer is that there are no easy answers. Every family’s budget and needs and risk tolerance are going to be different. (Allen, Rose and Chen, 5/23)
The Washington Post: An Oral History Of Coronavirus: Testimonies About The Pandemic
People on the frontlines of the outbreak talk about how covid-19 has disrupted their lives. (5/26)
PBS NewsHour: How COVID-19 Reshapes Our Views Of Life, And Of Loss
Many Western societies have not had to face death at the scale of COVID-19 since World War II, nearly 75 years ago. Could the grim reality of the coronavirus pandemic change the way we deal with life and loss? (Brabant, 5/25)
Kaiser Health News: Bringing ‘Poogie’ Home: Hospice In The Time Of COVID-19
After she landed in the hospital with a broken hip, Parkinson’s disease and the coronavirus, 84-year-old Dorothy “Poogie” Wyatt Shields made a request of her children: “Bring me home.” Her request came as hospital patients around the world were dying alone, separated from their loved ones whether or not they had COVID-19, because of visitation restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. Bringing home a terminally ill patient with COVID-19 bears extra challenges: In addition to the already daunting responsibility of managing their loved one’s care, families must take painstaking precautions to keep themselves safe. (Bailey, 5/26)
Kaiser Health News: ‘We Miss Them All So Much’: Grandparents Ache As The COVID Exile Grinds On
Across America, where more than 70 million people are grandparents, efforts to prevent infection in older people, who are most at risk of serious COVID-19 illness, have meant self-imposed exile for many. At the opposite extreme, some grandparents have taken over daily child care duties to help adult children with no choice but to work. “All the grandparents in the country are aching,” said Madonna Harrington Meyer, a sociology professor at Syracuse University in New York. “Some are aching because they can’t see their grandchildren — and some are aching because they can’t get away from them.” (Aleccia, 5/26)
San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus Anxiety Driving You To The Brink? Listen To Your Friend With OCD
Life for everyone in the Bay Area right now — with the intense handwashing, fear of leaving the home and fear of causing harm to others —resembles some of the classic OCD struggles. And indeed, OCD sufferers with contamination-related compulsions are facing heightened anxiety during the pandemic. But many others are reporting that years of therapy have made them the calmest person in their household. (Hartlaub, 5/25)
