Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Experts Say Emerging Data Is Clear: Masks Work And Course Of Pandemic Will Be Shaped By Their Use
CNN: Path Ahead For Pandemic Could Be Shaped By Masks While The US Death Toll Inches Closer To 100,000
Americans are at odds over whether it is necessary to continue taking coronavirus protective measures, but a leading researcher says the data is clear: the path ahead in the Covid-19 pandemic is being shaped by masks. "We now have really clear evidence that wearing masks works -- it's probably a 50% protection against transmission," Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "And so, what happens in the next month or two is very much in the hands of how people respond." (Holcombe, 5/27)
CNN: When Can You Be Around Others? CDC Offers Coronavirus Guidance
People who have been sick with coronavirus infections should stay away from other people until they've gone at least three days with no fever, have seen symptoms improve, and until it's been 10 days since they first noticed symptoms, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in updated guidance. The CDC updated guidance on when it's safe to leave quarantine, as well as some consumer-friendly guidance on using public transit and ride shares as states loosen restrictions on opening schools, businesses and leaving home. People who have been infected need to be sure they won't spread the virus, even if they feel better, the CDC advised. (Fox, 5/27)
CNN: What We Know -- And Still Don't Know -- About The Coronavirus
Dr. Megan Ranney spent last week testifying about the coronavirus before Congress. After Ranney took to Twitter on Sunday with a series of posts on the topic that many found extremely helpful and informative, CNN interviewed the emergency physician and Brown University associate professor of emergency medicine. Here's what she says we know, and what we still don't know, about Covid-19. (Murphy, 5/26)
CIDRAP: Study: Low Oxygen, Inflammation Predict Critical COVID-19 Illness, Death
Low oxygen levels at hospital admission and signs of inflammation were the strongest predictors of serious COVID-19 illness and death in a prospective cohort study published late last week in BMJ. Researchers found that 2,741 (51.9%) of 5,279 people testing positive for COVID-19 from Mar 1 to Apr 8 were hospitalized in NYU Langone Health in New York City and Long Island. Of the 2,741 hospitalized patients, 1,739 (69.5%) were released from the hospital, 990 (36.1%) were critically ill, and 665 (24.3%) were released to hospice or died. (5/26)
Stat: Hospital Records Hold Valuable Covid-19 Data. Making It Usable Takes Time
As tens of thousands of people worldwide test positive for Covid-19 every day, researchers are beginning to accumulate a trove of data from patients’ medical records that will be critical to getting a better handle on the biology of the disease. But even in the most advanced electronic health record systems, it’s a painstaking process to turn the information in a Covid-19 patient’s chart into a format that researchers can actually use. (Robbins, 5/27)
PBS NewsHour: The Potential Of Convalescent Plasma Therapy For COVID-19 Patients
With researchers around the world racing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, attention is increasingly turning to a potential stop-gap measure – convalescent plasma. The yellowish gold part of our blood that contains antibodies to help fight viruses is the focus of research in labs and hospitals and shows early signs of promise. (John Yang, 5/26)
The Wall Street Journal: China Rules Out Animal Market And Lab As Coronavirus Origin
Chinese scientists in recent days said they had ruled out both a laboratory and an animal market in the city of Wuhan as possible origins of the coronavirus pandemic, in their most detailed pushback to date against allegations from U.S. officials and others over what might have sparked it. The director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, at the center of allegations around a potential laboratory accident, Wang Yanyi, over the weekend told China Central Television that the coronavirus was significantly different from any live pathogen that has been studied at the institute and that there therefore was no chance it could have leaked from there. (Areddy, 5/26)
