Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: No Denying The Truth That Lockdowns Saved Hundreds Of Thousands Of Lives; Best Way To Find A Vaccine Isn't Being Explored
The Washington Post: No, The Lockdowns Weren’t An Overreaction
From the beginning of the pandemic, many conservatives have argued that the lockdowns were an overreaction to the novel coronavirus and that they are causing unnecessary economic pain. Recent studies, however, show that this argument is wrong. Lockdowns and other measures to inhibit the spread of covid-19 likely saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States alone. We know this because of the way the virus spreads exponentially. Without lockdowns and other measures, every infected person would come into contact with a large number of uninfected people every day. A certain percentage of those people would contract the disease and would then further spread the disease to other uninfected people. Left unchecked, diseases such as covid-19 become like a raging wildfire, burning everything in their path. (Henry Olsen, 6/9)
Stat: Collective Intelligence Will Deliver The Best Covid-19 Vaccine
Imagine mobilizing the world’s brightest and most creative minds — from biotech and pharmaceutical industries, universities, government agencies, and more — to work together using all available knowledge, innovation, and infrastructure to develop an effective vaccine against Covid-19. A true “people’s vaccine” that would be made freely available to all people in all countries. That’s what an open letter by more than 140 world leaders and experts calls for. Unfortunately, that is not how the race for a Covid-19 vaccine is being run. The rules of that game are oblivious to the goal of maximizing global health outcomes and access. (Els Torreele, 6/10)
The New York Times: The Head Of A Hospital Grapples With Racism
The last 12 weeks will haunt me forever. At the Montefiore Health System, where I am the chief executive, the coronavirus has killed 2,204 patients and 21 members of our courageous staff, despite our best efforts. Now, as the pandemic has subsided and our Covid-19 caseload has dropped to 143 patients from a peak of 2,208 on April 12, the nation is coming to grips with another fearful crisis — the lethal effects of racism, the pain of which is all too familiar to me. (Philip O. Ozuah, 6/9)
The Hill: Why We Need A Moratorium On Investment Disputes During COVID-19
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. On April 1, 2020, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared the COVID-19 epidemic the world’s greatest challenge since World War II. The wellbeing of billions of people, and potentially millions of deaths, still hang in the balance, especially in the poorer countries of the developing world. (James Bacchus and Jeffrey Sachs, 6/9)
NBC News: CrossFit CEO's Racist George Floyd Tweet Shows Gyms Can Be Fraught Places For Black People
Health and wellness has a racism problem and, as in many communities in which such inequities are often minimized or ignored, the movement for racial equality that has sprung up in the wake of George Floyd's killing in police custody has brought the ugliness faced by people of color to the fore. In a recent tweet that can only be described as bizarre, CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman responded to a tweet about racism's being a public health issue by calling it "FLOYD-19." (Erika Nicole Kendall, 6/9)
The Hill: Help Save America's Independent Hospitals
The thousands of independent hospitals serving communities across America now face an existential threat. The COVID-19 pandemic and flawed federal attempts to aid these hospitals have left them financially devastated. Unless Washington takes the right steps to help in the near future, many independent hospitals may be absorbed by larger health systems or close their doors for good. As a result, millions of Americans could face significantly higher health care costs and gaping holes in the health care system. (Kathleen Silard, 6/9)
Boston Globe: Massachusetts Should Borrow To Avoid Big Budget Cuts
Massachusetts will soon face a budgetary reckoning because of a huge revenue shortfall caused by the pandemic-prompted economic slowdown. The conventional remedy to periodic budget crises caused by a soft economy — substantial spending cuts on state services like health care, state parks, and public higher education; income or sales tax increases; or a combination of the two — are unwise in this instance, and could even prolong the economic misery. Absent sufficient federal aid, the better solution is to borrow over several years to pave the way through the pandemic rough patch. (6/10)
The New York Times: I’m Mayor Of A Small City In Kentucky. We Can Safely Reopen.
The day after Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky closed restaurants and bars to in-person traffic in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a veteran restaurant owner in my community turned to social media. “I have been in business for 30 years and I have been through some difficult times, including 1990, 2001 and 2007,” he wrote. “But I tell you this one really worries me.” (Alan Keck, 6/9)
