Essential Personnel: Mexican Health Care Professionals Help Keep California Medical Centers Going; Missouri Officials Issue Warning About COVID-Positive Lake Partier
Media outlets report on news from California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Maine, South Carolina and Michigan.
Reuters:
Workers Living In Mexico Helping California's Pandemic Health Response
Hundreds of Mexicans and Americans who live south of the border enter southern California’s hospitals every day. But these are not the patients — they are medical workers and support staff keeping a saturated healthcare system running amid the coronavirus pandemic. Over a thousand nurses, medical technicians, and support workers who live in the Mexican border towns of Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali work in the United States, Mexican census data shows. They staff emergency rooms, COVID-19 testing sites, dialysis centers and pharmacies. (Gottesdiener, 5/31)
ABC News:
Lake Of The Ozarks Memorial Day Partygoer Tests Positive For COVID-19
Health officials in Missouri are alerting those who attended Memorial Day weekend parties at the Lake of the Ozarks that a partygoer there has tested positive for the novel coronavirus." Camden County Health Department has been notified of a Boone County resident who has tested positive for COVID-19 after being in the Lake area on May 23 and 24," according to a statement issued on Friday. Over the holiday weekend, photographs and videos were posted on social media that showed dozens of people in public pools and inside businesses not practicing social distancing or wearing masks or gloves. (Carrega, 5/30)
Boston Globe:
Thanks To A Startup And An Investor, 100,000 Gowns Are Being Sent To Mass. Hospitals
A Boston greeting-card startup has revised its approach, adding the machinery and personnel necessary to produce and distribute personal protective equipment. Now, thanks to one of its investors, 100,000 medical gowns are being donated to Massachusetts hospitals. Lovepop, which makes three-dimensional popup greeting cards, is using its engineering know-how to make gowns and face shields, with guidance from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Emergency Response Team, a group helping businesses retool to meet the demand for PPE. (Gardizy, 5/31)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Nevada Record Requests Often Subject To Long Delays Or Denials
Did Nevada have the required amount of personal protective gear stockpiled for the COVID-19 pandemic? Was the state’s emergency plan sufficient? Were prisons well-equipped for virus testing? The answers are still unknown as Review-Journal journalists are told to wait weeks, sometime months, to receive key public records from state officials. (Davidson, 5/30)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Coronavirus Outbreak Could Speed Cashless Gaming In Las Vegas
A coronavirus carrier may be as close as your back pocket or your purse. It’s cash. The dollars that gamblers pursue in high denominations at casinos across the land could harbor lots of icky germs. (Velotta, 5/30)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Nevada’s Native American Tribes To Get Health Care Funds
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday it will be sending more than $6.3 million to Native American health care providers in Nevada as part of $500 million in national relief for the Indian Health Service during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Appleton, 5/29)
The New York Times:
The Virus Ravaged Parents At P.S. 315. They Found A Way To Fight Back.
The parent interpreter committee at Public School 315 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, came together late last year to translate school materials for families who were not fluent in English. Soon, as the coronavirus tore through the city, the group found itself navigating life and death. One of the committee’s founding members got so sick she feared she would die. A second member ended up in the emergency room, short of breath, and then lost his sister to the virus. A third lost her job. Two others members coped with death and illness in their families. When the school closed in mid-March, the committee fielded calls about securing computers for children who had none. (Sengupta, 6/1)
Kaiser Health News:
‘Why Do We Always Get Hit First?’ Proposed Budget Cuts Target Vulnerable Californians
Shirley Madden, 83, relies on a caregiver and her two grown daughters to remain living at home — and not in a nursing home. Her daughters, 55-year-old Carrie and 60-year-old Kristy Madden, both use wheelchairs and need a second caregiver to help them navigate their own daily lives. But that critical caregiving support, along with other health care benefits for millions of Californians, could be scaled back to help plug a massive budget deficit triggered by the coronavirus. (Young, 6/1)
NPR:
Justice Department Says Maine's 2-Week Quarantine Rule Discriminates Against Tourists
The U.S. Department of Justice is siding with campground and restaurant owners in Maine who sued the state over a two-week self-quarantine policy for out-of-state visitors. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills imposed the restriction as part the state's response to the ongoing pandemic. Several other states have imposed similar measures. (Sharon, 5/29)
WBUR:
S.C. Hospital System Tells Non-COVID-19 Patients It's Safe To Return
Hospitals lost millions of dollars preparing for a surge of COVID-19 patients. Some were swamped, but others only saw a handful of coronavirus cases. Now many are struggling to survive. (Vanek Smith, 5/29)
Boston Globe:
States With Medical Marijuana Laws Saw 20 Percent Drop In Some Opioid Prescriptions
States with active medical marijuana laws saw certain opioid prescription rates drop nearly 20 percent compared to states without medical marijuana programs, according to a first-of-its-kind study out of Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center. Authors said the findings underscore the importance of providing patients with pain management alternatives, such as cannabis, in efforts to reduce opioid use. (Adlin, 5/29)
Boston Globe:
‘My God, This Thing Is Really Contagious.’ Charlie Baker Reflects On The Coronavirus Crisis
Globe reporter Bob Hohler interviewed Governor Charlie Baker on April 25, 2020. (Hohler, Swidey and Allen, 5//30)
Modern Healthcare:
Beaumont Health Calls Off Deal With Summa Health
Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health called off its acquisition of Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health, the health systems announced Friday. The regional combination would have added four hospitals and a health plan to Beaumont's eight hospitals, creating a $6.1 billion system. The organizations signed a letter of intent in December and planned to close the deal on April 1. (Kacik and Bannow, 5/29)