Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
It's Been A Year Since 'Normal' Ended
NBC News: 'It Felt Like The World Was Falling Apart': An Oral History Of The Day That Changed America
In the days and weeks leading up to March 11, 2020, Americans could be excused for underestimating the coronavirus. The U.S. had faced a variety of infectious diseases in recent decades — SARS, MERS, avian flu, Zika, Ebola and others — and it was unclear how this new coronavirus would be notably different. Some parts of the U.S. had taken action as the initial outbreak in Italy offered a window into just how bad things could get. But any doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic was about to shatter daily life ended on March 11. What had been a steadily building crisis exploded in a handful of hours. (Ingram, Pettypiece and Garcia-Hodges, 3/11)
Roll Call: How The Pandemic Changed Health Care, One Year Later
The World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. More than 500,000 American deaths and trillions of taxpayer dollars later, the virus has reshaped the health care landscape for years to come. That system’s shortcomings became painfully obvious as the virus spread, exposing glaring gaps in care for rural and low-income communities, as well as people of color. The lack of domestic manufacturing capacity for critical supplies like protective equipment forced nurses to reuse masks and dress in garbage bags. Patient care unrelated to COVD-19 suffered. (Clason and McIntire, 3/10)
AP: A Year On, WHO Still Struggling To Manage Pandemic Response
When the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic one year ago Thursday, it did so only after weeks of resisting the term and maintaining that the highly infectious virus could still be stopped. A year later, the U.N. agency is still struggling to keep on top of the evolving science of COVID-19, to persuade countries to abandon their nationalistic tendencies and help get vaccines where they’re needed most. (Cheng and Keaten, 3/11)
KHN: One Year In: How Covid’s Toll Compares With Other Causes Of Death
Now that the coronavirus has been in the United States for roughly a year, new numbers are revealing the scale of covid-19’s impact on American health: Covid has become the country’s third-leading cause of death, and could be on its way to outpacing cancer. As of Wednesday afternoon, 528,603 Americans had died of the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And a closely watched model from researchers at the University of Washington projects that this number will rise past 575,000 by June 1. (Jacobson, 3/11)
In related news —
NBC News: The Last Photo: Images Taken Just One Year Ago Feel A Lifetime Away
Sports games in packed arenas. Weekend getaways and world travels. Birthday parties with family and friends. Just as striking about what is in our photos from one year ago is what is not: No masks. No 6-foot gaps between people. No bottles of hand sanitizer. NBC News asked readers to send in the last photo they took before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020. (Chuck, 3/10)
NBC News: A Year Of Sacrifice: Why Pre-Pandemic Photos Can Be Painful Reminders
While photos of happy events normally bring us joy, in our pictures from one year ago, many of us instead see painful reminders of all we have been forced to give up. These images — snapshots from a way of life that has since been rendered inaccessible by the pandemic — may bring grief, experts say. (Chuck, 3/10)
KHN: In A Year Of Zoom Memorials, Art Exhibit Makes Space For Grief
Tami Roncskevitz has attended two Zoom memorials for her daughter, Sarah, a 32-year-old emergency room social worker who died of covid on May 30. But she longs to gather Sarah’s friends and family together in one place so they can embrace and mourn together. “It just isn’t the same,” said Roncskevitz. “You feel like your grieving is not complete.” (Almendrala, 3/11)
And the search continues for the origins of the coronavirus —
Bloomberg: Covid Origin Could Be Found In Few Years, Mission Member Says
The world will likely have a better idea about the origins of Covid-19 in a few years as scientists continue to analyze the data, according to a member of the international team of experts that traveled to China to trace the pandemic’s emergence. Despite the shortage of clues to the virus’s roots and the political tensions around the search, the scientific process will eventually prevail, Peter Daszak, a New York-based zoologist assisting the mission, said at a webinar organized by U.K. think tank Chatham House on Wednesday. “I’m convinced we’re going to find out fairly soon,” he said. “Within the next few years we’ll have real significant data on where this came from and how it emerged. That’s consistent with other outbreaks in the past.” (Gretler, 3/10)
The Wall Street Journal: WHO Team Expert Expects Covid-19’s Origins Will Be Found “Within A Few Years”
Scientists will likely discover the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic within the next few years, after they pursue and zero in on an animal source for the new coronavirus, a member of an international team of investigators led by the World Health Organization said Wednesday. “I’m convinced we’re going to find out fairly soon,” said Peter Daszak, a member of the WHO-led team and a zoologist who specializes in hunting for viral origins in animals. “Within the next few years we’ll have real significant data on where this came from and how it emerged.” (McKay, 3/10)
