Different Takes: One-Government Approach Would Concentrate Everyone’s Efforts; Not Paying Sick Pay To Workers Is An Appalling Injustice
Opinion pages focus on these COVID issues and others.
Stat:
We Need One Response — Not 50 — To Fight Covid-19
In ordinary times, states handle the public health crises that affect their residents. That usually works well, because challenges in California can vastly differ from those in Connecticut. But these are not ordinary times. Covid-19 does not respect state lines. So without explicit federal coordination of the response to and the recovery from this pandemic, the American people are left largely unaware of health and safety guidelines, unsure of best practices, and unnerved to see states competing against each other for lifesaving resources such as test kits, personal protective equipment, and ventilators. (Howard K. Koh, 5/22)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
It's Outrageous That Quarantined Nursing Home Workers Are Denied Sick Leave
For all the rhetoric praising front-line medical and support staff in the pandemic, St. Louis-area nursing homes are committing an appalling injustice against them: sending them home when their risky jobs expose them to the coronavirus but refusing to offer paid leave. This puts those workers in an impossible situation. This is the same nursing-home industry that’s asking Missouri for liability protection as it navigates the pandemic. As we’ve said editorially, such protection is a reasonable ask under these circumstances, provided there are some stringent conditions. Paid sick leave for infected workers should absolutely be among those conditions. (5/24)
The New York Times:
The Pandemic Could Lead To Outbreaks Of Measles And Other Preventable Diseases
An unusual silence fills the waiting area of my fellow pediatrician’s office in suburban Maryland. On a typical day, one would expect to see the animated bustle of children. Nowadays, only two out of 10 scheduled visits might take place. Unused vaccine vials rapidly accumulate as families shelter at home. With lockdowns and fears of the pandemic, this scene has been playing out in pediatricians’ offices around the country. (Anita Shet, 5/26)
Stat:
Hospitals Are Busier Than Ever — And Going Out Of Business
At various points over the last few weeks, news reports have told stories of booming hospitals: emergency departments overwhelmed by patients, imminent shortages of both ICU beds and ventilators, and even the need to create makeshift field hospitals to accommodate extra patients. At the same time, they also showed how hospitals are furloughing staff and cutting salaries and retirement benefits. And Congress has allocated $100 billion to bail out hospitals in financial trouble. How can hospitals be so busy and still be losing so much money? (Zahir Kanjee, Ateev Mehrotra and Bruce Landon, 5/26)
Boston Globe:
A Clean Transportation System Is The Prescription My Patients Need
“How come this virus is making me so sick?” As a doctor taking care of COVID-19 patients, I get this question a lot. I’m trained to describe the biological pathways of this virus to them. But I also know that for some of my patients, most of whom are people of color, immigrants, and under-resourced, that part of the answer may be that society didn’t care enough to keep their air clean. (Gaurab Basu, 5/25)
The Hill:
Stop Expelling And Separating Immigrant Children Parents During COVID
The separation of children and families at the border was deemed unconstitutional with an executive order to stop back in June 2018. So why are children still at risk of the government separating them from their parents? (Dr. Suzan Song, 5/25)
Boston Globe:
After COVID-19, A Better Way To Support The Elderly And People With Disabilities
Many long-term care facility residents would be far safer in their own homes, but they need assistance with everyday living. Even people already receiving services at home from home care workers are finding that, during the coronavirus pandemic, those workers are less available and that following stay-at-home orders can be complicated. There is a successful alternative to institutional care that allows people of all ages with disabilities to live at home with support: self-direction of home and community-based services, available under Medicaid and the Veterans Administration’s Veterans Directed Care program. (Kevin Mahoney, 5/25)
