Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Death Toll Climbs In U.S. As Wash. Nursing Facility Patients, Staff And Responders Continue To Be Monitored
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Has Claimed Six U.S. Lives; Patients Being Treated In At Least 15 States
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus rose to six on Monday, and patients were being treated in at least 15 states, deepening fears about the outbreak's rapid spread and the medical, psychological and economic toll it will exact on the United States. Four deaths announced Monday and two others this weekend all occurred in Washington state, the center of the nation’s most serious outbreak. Eight of the state’s 18 cases, as well as four of the deaths, are linked to the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., and at least 50 other residents and staff members have reported coronavirus-like symptoms. (Sacchetti, Hernandez, O'Grady and Wan, 3/2)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs To Six As Virus Spreads World-Wide
The nursing home was the site of four of the nation’s deaths and has four other confirmed cases, including one woman in her 80s who is in critical condition, according to King County’s public health department. New cases were also reported in California, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Hampshire and Illinois on Monday as state officials attempted to quell fears. At least 50 people have been diagnosed with the novel infection within the U.S., not including repatriated Americans. (Calfas, Carlton and Craymer, 3/2)
The New York Times: ‘When Is It Going To End?’: Where Coronavirus Has Turned Deadly In The U.S.
Movie nights have been canceled. Residents are restricted to their rooms, their meals delivered by workers in protective gear. Ambulances come and go, taking elderly patients who have fallen ill to the hospital two miles away. Life Care Center, which advertises a “homelike and welcoming atmosphere” in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, has become the focal point of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Four of the six people who have died of the virus in this country were residents of the 190-bed nursing care facility. Several other residents and at least one employee have tested positive. One-quarter of the city’s firefighters are in quarantine as a result of recent visits, and officials said on Monday that some have developed flu-like symptoms. (Baker and Weise, 3/2)
CNN: 6 People Have Died From Novel Coronavirus In The US As Cases Nationwide Surge
"Current residents and associates continue to be monitored closely, specifically for an elevated temperature, cough and/or shortness of breath," officials said in a statement on the Life Care website. "Any resident displaying these symptoms is placed in isolation. Associates are screened prior to beginning work and upon leaving." (Silverman, Yan and Almasy, 3/3)
Bloomberg: Six Dead Of Virus In Washington; State Readies For Outbreak
The outbreak in the counties near Seattle is the most concentrated of the coronavirus clusters detected so far in the U.S. While other areas have reported single cases or small groups, many in travelers returning from abroad, the Washington state illnesses appear to represent an outbreak with transmission going on in the community. “As we test more, we will see more,” Duchin said. “It is impossible for me to predict what the peak of this outbreak may be.” Many new confirmed cases will be mild as testing expands." (Langreth and Cortez, 3/2)
The Wall Street Journal: Firefighters In Isolation After Responding To Nursing Home With Virus Outbreak
Firefighter Jessica Brassfield donned gloves as she entered the Life Care Center of Kirkland, a nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., not long after midnight Wednesday. But she didn’t wear a mask. The Life Care Center, health authorities later discovered, was harboring the new coronavirus. Now, Ms. Brassfield and 18 other Kirkland firefighters who responded to health-related calls at the facility in recent weeks are under isolation by public-health officials. Eight more are quarantined, according to a union official. (Evans and Carlton, 3/2)
NBC News: Coronavirus Prompts A Dozen Schools In Washington State To Close, Others Weigh Options
A growing number of schools in western Washington state and Oregon are scrambling this week to temporarily close and sanitize classrooms following the confirmation of additional cases of coronavirus and at least six deaths linked to the disease in Washington. The decision to cancel classes Monday in at least a dozen schools in the greater Seattle area indicates how essential it is for school districts to have contingency plans and could be a preview for communities across the country weighing what preventative steps to take, health experts say. (Ortiz, 3/2)
