Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Testing Company Faked Results
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Company Faked COVID Test Results, Authorities Say
A company accused of handing out fake results for hundreds of coronavirus tests will pay more than $20 million in a settlement announced by Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer. Feuer and Dist. Atty. George Gascón accused Sameday Technologies and its chief executive, Felix Huettenbach, of sending fake results to hundreds of people, telling them they had tested negative for the coronavirus when laboratories had not actually run their tests. Some tests were never processed at all, according to the complaint filed in court Wednesday. (Alpert Reyes, 4/21)
In other news about the spread of covid —
The Boston Globe: A Puzzling Phenomenon: Patients Report A Rebound Of COVID-19 Symptoms After Taking The Antiviral Paxlovid
When it first hit the market in December, the COVID-19 antiviral treatment, Paxlovid, was hailed as a game-changer, an effective medicine that kept at-risk people out of the hospital. But now some patients are reporting on social media an unusual and unnerving phenomenon: their COVID symptoms appear to rebound after taking the medication. And it’s not just their symptoms that reappear. Many report that after finishing their five-day course of treatment, feeling better, and testing negative on an at-home rapid test, they then test positive again a few days later. (Lazar, 4/21)
Bay Area News Group: San Mateo: Nearly 90 Students Test Positive For COVID-19 After Attending Prom
Nearly 90 San Mateo High School students have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending prom earlier this month, according to school officials. The school held its prom April 9 at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. As of 11 a.m. Thursday, about 90 of the nearly 600 students who attended the event had tested positive for the coronavirus disease, said San Mateo Union High School District spokesperson Laura Chalkley. “From what is being reported to us, cases are mild or students are asymptomatic,” Chalkley said. Chalkley said masks were strongly recommended at the event, per current public health guidelines in San Francisco, however many students chose not to wear a mask. (Green, 4/21)
The Washington Post: Metro Schools Report Post-Spring Break Covid Case Counts
D.C. regional schools reported post-spring break coronavirus case numbers this week that were mostly lower in comparison to previous returns from breaks during the school year. Testing strategies have varied across the region. Some school districts required testing to return after breaks, such as at D.C. Public Schools. Others sent test kits home, but instructed families to report only positive results, like in Montgomery County. Most Virginia schools did not have compulsory testing after spring break. (Asbury and Stein, 4/21)
CIDRAP: AstraZeneca's Evusheld Slashes Risk Of Symptomatic COVID-19 Up To 83%
AstraZeneca's monoclonal antibody combination tixagevimab-cilgavimab (Evusheld) reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection by 83% over placebo at a median follow-up of 6 months, finds a phase 3 randomized clinical trial published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 4/21)
AP: Hawaii Ends Free COVID-19 Testing Program As Cases Rise
Hawaii’s coronavirus positivity rate has more than doubled in the last month as mask mandates ended and demand for tests dropped. Despite the rise, the state Department of Health Health stopped its free testing program Wednesday as federal funding ended. State organized vaccination efforts will also transition to traditional health care settings and a mobile vaccine program to reach people who can’t leave their homes will end. (4/21)
Also —
Modern Healthcare: Unionized Nursing Homes Have Lower COVID-19 Mortality Rates, Study Finds
Unionized nursing homes have a 10.8% lower resident COVID-19 mortality rate and a 6.8% lower worker COVID-19 infection rates than non-unionized nursing homes, according to research published this week. Using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Service Employees International Union, the Health Affairs research analyzed 13,350 nursing homes between June 8, 2020 and March 21, 2021. Labor unions representing nursing home workers have asked for numerous policies to decrease worker infection risk and lower resident mortality rates, including paid sick leave, access to personal protective equipment, surveillance COVID-19 testing, higher staffing levels, and the isolation of infected residents, said Adam Dean, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the department of political science at George Washington University. (Devereaux, 4/21)
San Francisco Chronicle: Can An Employee’s Spouse Who Contracts COVID Sue The Employer? A Federal Court Wants The California Supreme Court To Weigh In
In a case from San Francisco, a federal appeals court asked the California Supreme Court on Thursday whether a worker’s spouse who contracts COVID-19 can sue the worker’s employer — an answer that seems likely to be affirmative, based on the state court’s past actions. The suit was filed by Corey Kuciemba and her husband, Robert Kuciemba, an employee of Victory Woodworks, a furniture construction company in San Francisco. After the city imposed COVID health restrictions on workplaces in May 2020, they said, the company brought in workers from an infected site, disregarded the restrictions and required Robert Kuciemba to work near them. (Egelko, 4/21)
