Going Without Life-Saving Therapy: Social Distancing Orders Complicate Mental Health Care Crisis
Advocates worry that many homeless people are avoiding shelters where their mental health needs are identified by experts. Meanwhile, other people who have been staying at home might be developing anxiety and depression that will cause them to require therapy from an underfunded system already stretched thin. Other public health news is on air travel safety, a new vulnerability to biological attacks, air pollution alarms, day care concerns, new workplace settings and the dip in organ donations, as well.
The Associated Press:
Pandemic Threatens To Deepen Crisis In Mental Health Care
More than three weeks after Brandon Bell stopped showing up at a New York office that serves people with schizophrenia, employees finally located him at a nearby homeless shelter. The office remains open, but patients aren’t stopping by as much during the pandemic. Group activities such as the weekly Caribbean lunch that were also an important source of food have ended because of the coronavirus. Visits from caregivers are less frequent and shorter — usually five or 10 minutes — to reduce the risk of infection. (Minchillo and Choi, 5/19)
The New York Times:
Is The Pandemic Sparking Suicide?
The mental health toll of the coronavirus pandemic is only beginning to show itself, and it is too early to predict the scale of the impact. The coronavirus pandemic is an altogether different kind of cataclysm — an ongoing, wavelike, poorly understood threat that seems to be both everywhere and nowhere, a contagion nearly as psychological as it is physical. Death feels closer, even well away from the front lines of emergency rooms, and social isolation — which in pre-Covid times was often a sign of a mind turning in on itself — is the new normal for tens of millions of people around the world. (Carey, 5/19)
The New York Times:
A.C.L.U. Warns Against Fever-Screening Tools For Coronavirus
Airports, office buildings, warehouses and restaurant chains are rushing to install new safety measures like fever-scanning cameras and infrared temperature-sensing guns. But the American Civil Liberties Union warned on Tuesday against using the tools to screen people for possible coronavirus symptoms, saying the devices were often inaccurate, ineffective and intrusive. In a new report, “Temperature Screening and Civil Liberties During an Epidemic,” the A.C.L.U. said that such technologies could give people a false sense of security, potentially leading them to be less vigilant about health measures like wearing masks or social distancing. (Singer, 5/19)
The Wall Street Journal:
The New Airline Travel: Fewer Flights, More Layovers, Rules For Bathrooms
A new age of air travel is taking shape. Airports and airlines are rolling out temperature checks for crew and, increasingly, passengers, as well as thermal scans to spot people with elevated body temperatures. Face masks are now de rigueur for travelers across the U.S. Passengers on Europe’s biggest budget carrier must raise their hands to use the toilet. (Sider, Katz and Cherney, 5/18)
Reuters:
Empty Middle Seat? Depends On Which Country You Are Flying In
In Thailand, you cannot have food or water in flight and must wear a mask. In Malaysia and Indonesia, the plane needs to be half-empty. In the United States and Europe, it’s not mandatory for airlines to leave the middle seat open. (Freed, Qiu and Kauranen, 5/18)
NBC News:
Experts: COVID-19 Has Shown U.S., U.K. Are Vulnerable To Biological Terrorism
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a structural vulnerability to biological attacks in the U.S. and Europe that requires urgent government action, multiple current and former national security and public health officials told NBC News. Former officials in the U.S. and the U.K. warn that the devastating impact of the coronavirus on health care infrastructures and economies may act as a "neon light" for terrorist groups looking to unleash pathogens on Western nations. (Marx, 5/18)
NPR:
Why Air Pollution Hasn't Fallen More With Everyone Driving Less
With traffic dramatically down in recent months, the United States is in the middle of an accidental experiment showing what happens to air pollution when millions of people stop driving. The air is clearer. But the pollution declines aren't nearly as large as early indications suggested, according to an NPR analysis of six years of Environmental Protection Agency data. (Sommer, Hersher, Jingnan and Benincasa, 5/19)
The Oklahoman:
Is Day Care Safe During The Coronavirus Pandemic? It Depends. Here Are Some Guidelines
As parts of the country tiptoe back toward more normal routines, working parents are desperate for child care. Still, they must weigh the risks of sending their children outside the safety of their homes to be cared for by someone else. The big question: Is it safe? (Alexander, 5/18)
NPR:
No More Watercooler Talk And Other Ways Offices Will Adapt To The Pandemic
As stay-at-home orders across the U.S. begin to loosen, companies are planning for their employees' return to the office. For months, millions worked from home, raising the question of whether physical offices are even necessary. Nabil Sabet thinks so. The group director at M Moser Associates, a firm that specializes in workplace design, says there is more to the office than just cubicles and conference rooms. (Pao, 5/18)
Kaiser Health News:
Fewer Traffic Collisions During Shutdown Means Longer Waits For Organ Donations
On Day Two of the San Francisco Bay Area’s stay-at-home orders in March, Nohemi Jimenez got into her car in San Pablo, California, waved goodbye to her 3-year-old son and drove to her regular Wednesday dialysis appointment. The roads were deserted. No traffic. Jimenez, 30, said it is hard to admit what she thought next: No traffic meant no car accidents. And that meant she’d be on the waiting list for a kidney transplant even longer. (Dembosky, 5/19)
