Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Largest Virginia School System Pauses Reopening Plans
The Washington Post: Fairfax Delays In-Person Instruction As Virginia Teachers’ Groups Ask Northam To Return State To All-Virtual School
Virginia’s largest school system is pausing plans to return thousands of children to classrooms — an announcement that came the same day Northern Virginia teachers’ unions urged Gov. Ralph Northam (D) to switch the state to online-only learning. Fairfax County Public Schools, which serves 186,000 students, was supposed to send 6,800 pre-kindergartners, kindergartners and special education students back into school buildings on Tuesday. They would have joined the roughly 8,000 young children, special education students, and career and technical students who have already returned to classrooms. (Natanson, 11/16)
In news from New York, Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio —
The Washington Post: Virus Cancels ‘Wreaths Across America’ At Arlington, Cemetery Says
Arlington National Cemetery said Monday that it is canceling the annual “Wreaths Across America” event this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The cemetery said it acted with regret after deciding it could not put sufficient controls into effect to mitigate the expected risks of so large an event under current and expected conditions. (Weil, 11/17)
Reuters: As Pandemic Hits Pockets, New Yorkers Line Up For Free Thanksgiving Turkey
As the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches, New Yorkers struggling to serve up a festive meal lined up with empty shopping carts for help from a hunger-relief organization. Food Bank For New York City gave out 500 turkeys, canned goods and produce to hundreds of families in the neighborhood of Harlem on Monday. Many had never imagined needing handouts to survive. (Chen, 11/16)
North Carolina Health News: More Farmworker Women Bring Kids To Work
Throughout most days this autumn, Olga would wake up early and head to a pumpkin patch in Swain County, in the westernmost region of North Carolina. She’d hoist the 10-to-20-pound decorative gourds, destined for Halloween carvings and carefully crafted social media photoshoots, into nearby bins. Her 9-year-old daughter Aracely would sit along the side of the patch, attempting to complete schoolwork beside her. (Critchfield, 11/16)
Cincinnati Enquirer: COVID-19 In Cincinnati: 'There's An Enormous Amount Of Danger,' Mayor John Cranley Warns
Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley on Monday warned that residents face enormous danger as the wait for a COVID-19 vaccine continues. He likened it to the lag between D-Day in 1944 and the official end of World War II, which came the following year. (Brookbank and Hunt, 11/16)
In news from Texas, Washington state and Cherokee Nation —
The Washington Post: Inmates Earning $2 An Hour Are Handling An Overflow Of Bodies At El Paso’s County Morgue
Overwhelmed by coronavirus-related deaths, Texas’s El Paso County is relying on low-security inmates to help manage the overflow of bodies. Footage captured by local news outlets over the weekend showed inmates in striped jumpsuits and protective gear wheeling deceased patients to mobile morgues that are used to temporarily store bodies when funeral homes and medical examiners’ offices run out of space, and have become a grim symbol of the pandemic’s deadly toll. (11/17)
AP: Officials: 300 Attend Wedding Leading To Virus Outbreak
Health officials are asking more than 300 attendees of a wedding near Ritzville, Washington on Nov. 7 to get tested for COVID-19 after several people tested positive. The Grant County Health District said in a news release Monday that anyone who attended the wedding is being asked to quarantine through Nov. 21. (11/17)
Stat: How The Covid-19 Pandemic Has Been Curtailed In Cherokee Nation
While the United States flounders in its response to the coronavirus, another nation — one within our own borders — is faring much better. With a mask mandate in place since spring, free drive-through testing, hospitals well-stocked with PPE, and a small army of public health officers fully supported by their chief, the Cherokee Nation has been able to curtail its Covid-19 case and death rates even as those numbers surge in surrounding Oklahoma, where the White House coronavirus task force says spread is unyielding. (McFarling, 11/17)
