Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Domestic Abuse Problems Deepen: As Number Of Cases Rise, Fewer Options Exist To Find Safety
The New York Times: Domestic Violence Calls Mount As Restrictions Linger: ‘No One Can Leave’
The woman dialed the hotline from her car. Her partner was laid off from his job after the coronavirus outbreak hit the United States, she told the counselor, who listened from a basement call center in Chicago. He had become more tense and violent than ever. Please help. Americans have been cooped up at home for months to slow the spread of the coronavirus, many of them living in small spaces, reeling from sudden job losses and financial worries. Children are home from school in every state in the country. (Bosman, 5/15)
WBUR: Why Antibiotic Resistance Is More Worrisome Than Ever
A health crisis is rapidly unfolding worldwide. It causes suffering and death, costs billions and threatens to overwhelm health-care systems, patients and their families. No, it's not the coronavirus pandemic. It's that other disastrous health crisis: drug resistance. Bacteria and other microbes that cleverly change and evolve are outsmarting the antimicrobials once hailed as miraculous cures. Worldwide, 700,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases, according to the World Health Organization. (Brink, 5/14)
Roll Call: COVID-19 Amplifies Racial Disparities In Maternal Health
Days before her death, Amber Isaac tweeted about her negative experiences receiving pregnancy care at her local hospital in the Bronx. Isaac, a 26-year-old black woman pregnant with her first child, raised concerns about "incompetent doctors." She worried about her low platelet count and felt her concerns were not being heard at Montefiore Medical Center, where her mother Renita Isaac has worked for 25 years, her partner Bruce McIntyre told CQ Roll Call. (Raman, 5/14)
KQED: Catching Babies With A Go-To Doula For Black Parents
Sumayyah Monét Franklin is a birth rights activist, doula and owner of Sumi’s Touch. She gives advice to potential parents on conception, coaches new parents through postpartum and is with parents during the birthing process-- she's attended over 500 births and counting. As of late, caution around potentially being exposed to COVID-19 has made many people wary about going to traditional healthcare facilities. (Harshaw, 5/15)
The Associated Press: Dining With Dummies? Renowned Restaurant Adds Mannequins
One of the country’s most renowned restaurants says mannequins will add a touch of whimsy and help with social distancing when customers return to its grand dining room later this month. Mannequins dressed in fine 1940′s-style attire were already theatrically staged Thursday at The Inn at Little Washington, tucked in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains about 90 minutes west of Washington, D.C. (5/15)
The New York Times: The Extra Burden For Parents Of Children With Special Needs
As a developmental pediatrician, I have worked throughout this coronavirus crisis with parents strained by fears about their child’s learning, stresses around anxiety and behavior, and the disruption of school services. For parents of children with special needs, who often carry an extra heavy load managing academics in the best of times, the burden while on home quarantine is magnified. (Bertin, 5/13)
The Hill: Airports Test Thermal Cameras, Sanitation Booths And Other Technologies To Mitigate Coronavirus
Airports across the United States and around the world are testing technology like thermal cameras and sanitation booths in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus among travelers and airport screeners, the Los Angeles Times reported. The number of people traveling by plane has dropped by approximately 96 percent amid the ongoing pandemic, according to multiple reports, leading airlines into an economic downfall. (Pitofsky, 5/14)
ABC News: Dramatic Drop In Cancer Diagnoses Amid COVID Pandemic Is Cause For Concern, Doctors Say
At the onset of the novel coronavirus, American healthcare providers sought to limit non-essential in-person visits, opting instead to put off routine examinations – including annual cancer screenings – as part of an effort to curb risky face-to-face interactions. This precautionary approach was endorsed by the American Cancer Society, among others, and widely accepted as a necessary preventative measure. But as weeks have now turned to months, doctors are registering a troubling trend: a precipitous drop in cancer diagnoses. Some experts fear that with each passing day, the prognosis for some of those undiagnosed cases may be getting worse as potential patients huddle at home. (Abdelmalek and Bruggeman, 5/14)
The Wall Street Journal: How Covid-19 Is Changing The Language In Emails
When Benjamin Schmerler sends an email, his words speak volumes about the current state of the world. Gone are the exclamation points or occasional emojis. The public-relations firm owner replaces his usual “hope you’re well” with something more heartfelt. And when he signs off, his new go-to is: “I wish you vigorous health and a robust mind-set.” Like many tending to business matters during the current pandemic, Mr. Schmerler wants to signal concern for the email recipient. “Any note should, at a minimum, acknowledge the collective vulnerability that people feel,” says Mr. Schmerler, who is based in New York. (Dizik, 5/14)
NPR: StoryCorps: Postal Workers Fight Fear To Work During Pandemic
When Evette Jourdain was struggling to get back on her feet, landing a job as a postal worker gave her security. Now, during the coronavirus pandemic, the job carries new risks she and her colleagues never imagined. Jourdain, 32, and her friend and fellow mail carrier Craig Boddie, 48, spoke for a remote StoryCorps conversation last month, from Palm Beach, Fla., about how their work has changed since the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. (Born and Bowman, 5/15)
