Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Families Fighting For Justice Long After Covid Deaths In Nursing Homes
USA Today: Families Suing Over COVID Nursing Home Deaths Face State Restrictions
With coronavirus cases circulating through Fair Acres Geriatric Center nursing home in June 2020, Christopher Beaty had alarming news for his family. His roommate at the Lima, Pennsylvania, nursing home had become sick with symptoms of COVID-19. Yet the roommate shared a room with Beaty for another 24 hours, continuously exposing him to the virus until he was relocated after testing positive, according to a federal lawsuit. It was too late for Beaty. The 63-year-old developed a fever and struggled to breathe. He was transferred to a nearby hospital on June 3 and tested positive for COVID-19. He died three days later. (Alltucker, 3/27)
In other news about the pandemic —
USA Today: Caregiver Fatigue's Signs Are Abundant, But Resources Can Be Minimal
As the world marked the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, research found that among the 53 million Americans serving as caregivers, many battle fatigue. More than 1 in 5 Americans are caregivers for either an adult family member or a child with special needs. The number of family caregivers has increased since 2015, and there has been an increase of nearly 8 million caregivers for adults age 50 or older, according to AARP. A study in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine found that the pandemic worsened the burden on Americans caring for a parent, the self-rated burden increasing 3 percentage points compared with pre-pandemic scores. (Elbeshbishi, 3/27)
AP: Ducey Extends Medical Licenses, Key To Virus Emergency End
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed legislation that will prevent temporary medical licenses issued under his coronavirus executive orders from immediately becoming invalid if he ends the state of emergency he issued two years ago. Friday’s action extends temporary licenses issued since the Republican governor first declared a state of emergency on March 11, 2020. They will be valid until the end of the year if they were active at the start of this month. (Christie, 3/25)
AP: California Schools Prepare To Spot Post-Break COVID-19 Cases
California’s 7 million students and school employees are getting free at-home COVID-19 tests to help prevent outbreaks at their school when they return from spring break. The state has shipped or delivered more than 14.3 million antigen tests, enough for two tests per person, to counties and school districts as part of a massive push to limit infections and avoid classroom closures after the break, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Saturday. (Nguyen, 3/26)
KHN: Journalists Recap Coverage Of The Ongoing Pandemic And Lead Risks In Schools’ Drinking Water
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber discussed how the covid-19 pandemic has affected home health care and those with disabilities on WBEZ’s “Reset With Sasha-Ann Simons” on March 21. ... KHN Montana correspondent Katheryn Houghton discussed the high levels of lead in drinking water across Montana schools on WBUR’s “Here and Now” on March 18. ... Dr. Céline Gounder, KHN senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health, discussed the difficulty of fighting covid amid political divisions in the U.S. on WBUR’s “On Point’s Coronavirus Hours” on March 17. (3/26)
Also —
NPR: White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre Tests Positive For COVID-19
A member of the Biden administration has tested positive for COVID-19 after accompanying the president to Poland. "This afternoon, after returning from the President's trip to Europe, I took a PCR test. That test came back positive," Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden's deputy press secretary, said in a statement Sunday. Jean-Pierre said she saw Biden at a meeting Saturday, but they were socially distanced, and he would not be considered a close contact by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. (Archie, 3/28)
Los Angeles Times: Guests And Crew Members Test Positive For COVID-19 Aboard Princess Cruise Ship
Passengers and crew members tested positive for COVID-19 aboard a 15-day Princess Cruise trip to the Panama Canal that returned Sunday to the Port of San Francisco. Those affected aboard the ship the Ruby Princess were either asymptomatic or showed mild symptoms of COVID-19 and were isolated and quarantined, Princess Cruises said in a statement. The cruise line did not say how many guests and crew members tested positive, or at what point in the trip they did so. The ship has since departed San Francisco for a 15-day cruise to Hawaii. (Shalby, 3/27)
Bloomberg: Elon Musk Tweets He ‘Supposedly’ Has Covid-19 Again; Almost No Symptoms
Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk said in a tweet he has Covid-19 again and is experiencing “almost no symptoms.” The chief executive officer of the electric-car maker and rocket company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. kept his Twitter followers apprised of his first bout with Covid in November 2020. The billionaire missed out on attending SpaceX’s first launch of astronauts to the International Space Station that month. (Sin and Trudell, 3/28)
