Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Haiti Getting US Field Hospitals To Help Earthquake Recovery Effort
Politico: U.S. Transport Ship And Field Hospitals Heading To Haiti For Quake Relief
The United States has dispatched a massive transport ship and begun delivering field hospitals to Haiti after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the southwestern part of the island Saturday, crumbling homes, destroying roads and killing more than 2,000 people. The USS Arlington, a transport dock ship, left Naval Station Norfolk, Va. on Tuesday and is scheduled to reach Haiti by Sunday, according to a spokesperson with U.S. Southern Command. The ship is carrying a fleet surgical team, 200 marines, two helicopters and a landing craft unit. (Custodio, 8/19)
AP: Oxygen Plant Among Earthquake-Damaged Buildings In Haiti
As if Haiti’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake, a tropical storm and the coronavirus pandemic weren’t enough, the temblor damaged the only medical oxygen plant in the southern part of the country. The building that housed the oxygen concentrator machines that the region depended on partially collapsed, and the machines were upended. The Etheuss company is run by the a family famous for their vetiver perfume oils plant in the city of Les Cayes, one of the areas hardest hit by Saturday’s earthquake. (Stevenson and Sanon, 8/20)
In global news about covid —
Bloomberg: Ardern Extends New Zealand Lockdown As Delta Outbreak Spreads
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a nationwide lockdown by four days after an outbreak of the delta strain of coronavirus spread outside largest city Auckland. The entire country will remain at Level 4 restrictions, the highest level of lockdown, until midnight on Aug. 24, Ardern told a news conference Friday in Wellington. The initial three-day lockdown had been due to lift at midnight tonight. (Brockett, 8/20)
CIDRAP: Australia, Japan Report Record COVID-19 Rises
As many countries struggle to rein in the highly transmissible Delta (B1617.2) COVID-19 variant, Australia and Japan reported new single-day highs, while situations stabilized in some parts of Africa and the Americas. Elsewhere, New Zealand reported 11 new cases in a growing cluster in the Auckland area. (8/19)
AP: Israel Approves Booster Shots For Over-40s
Israel has made third booster shots against COVID-19 available to people age 40 and older in an effort to fight a surge of the delta variant. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is 49, got his jab on Friday. He pledged to share “all the data, all the information, all the insights” of the effort. Israel has been a leader in the fight against the deadly coronavirus and last month became the first country to offer booster shots. The U.S. has approved, but not yet made available, boosters for older Americans as well. (8/20)
Axios: AAPI Rights Groups To Biden: "Use Precise Language" On COVID Origins
Twenty-three AAPI civil rights groups led by the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans are calling on the administration to take extra caution as it prepares results from its investigation into the origins of COVID. In late May, the Biden administration launched a 90-day probe into COVID's origins amid controversy over the lab leak theory. In a letter delivered to President Biden on Thursday, advocates warn the "simple existence of that report will put our communities at risk." (Chen, 8/19)
Axios: Oversight Board Upholds Facebook Decision To Keep Post Calling Lockdowns Ineffective
The independent Oversight Board on Thursday upheld Facebook's decision to leave up a post from a medical council in Brazil that claimed lockdowns are ineffective. The board's decision provides insight into how Facebook's removal threshold for content that creates a risk of imminent harm will be applied to posts about COVID-19. (McGill, 8/19)
In other developments —
AP: Food Agency Warns Of Hunger In Afghan Conflict
The head of the U.N. food agency in Afghanistan says a humanitarian crisis is unfolding with 14 million people facing severe hunger following the Taliban takeover of the country. Mary Ellen McGroarty, the World Food Program’s country director, said in a video briefing to U.N. correspondents from Kabul on Wednesday that the conflict in Afghanistan, the nation’s second severe drought in three years, and the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed an already dire situation into a “catastrophe.” (8/19)
Bloomberg: Ebola Case In Ivory Coast Spurs Urgent Hunt For Source In Guinea
Disease trackers have yet to identify how a teenager from rural Guinea treated for Ebola in a hospital in Abidjan sparked Ivory Coast’s first outbreak of the deadly viral disease in 27 years. The World Health Organization has sent expert teams to both West African nations to help authorities scale up measures to find and prevent additional cases, the agency’s regional office in Brazzaville said in a statement Thursday. As of Aug. 18, there was one confirmed and three suspected cases in Ivory Coast that later tested negative, WHO said. Six high-risk contacts have been quarantined and 131 contacts identified. No deaths have been reported. (Gale, 8/20)
NPR: Landmarks Around The World Are Lit In Purple For People With Disabilities
Rome's Colosseum, the London Eye, the Empire State Building and Tokyo's Skytree tower are among more than 125 landmarks around the world that are being bathed in purple light Thursday night, recognizing the world's 1.2 billion people with disabilities. The event, a call for inclusion and equal treatment, comes as the Paralympics are set to begin in Tokyo next week. The idea to light the Élysée Palace, Niagara Falls and other iconic places in purple stems from the WeThe15 campaign — named for the 15% of the world's population who live with disabilities, according to the International Paralympic Committee, which is leading the effort along with the International Disability Alliance. (Chappell, 8/19)
