Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Deaths Have Happened In Spain’s Nursing Homes Than Those In Any Other European Nation
The Associated Press: 'Didn't Give A Damn': Inside A Ravaged Spanish Nursing Home
Zoilo Patiño was just one of more than 19,000 elderly people to die of coronavirus in Spain’s nursing homes but he has come to symbolize a system of caring for the country’s most vulnerable that critics say is desperately broken. When the Alzheimer’s-stricken 84-year-old succumbed in March on the same day 200 others died across Madrid, funeral homes were too overwhelmed to take his body and he was instead left locked in the same room, in the same bed, where he died. (Parra, 5/28)
The Associated Press: UN: Virus Could Push 14 Million Into Hunger In Latin America
The U.N. World Food Program is warning that upward of at least 14 million people could go hungry in Latin America as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, shuttering people in their homes, drying up work and crippling the economy. New projections released late Wednesday estimate a startling increase: Whereas 3.4 million experienced severe food insecurity in 2019, that number could more than quadruple this year in one of the world’s most vulnerable regions. (Armario, 5/28)
The New York Times: ‘It’s Not The Virus’: Mexico’s Broken Hospitals Become Killers, Too
The senseless deaths torment doctors and nurses the most: The man who died because an inexperienced nurse unplugged his ventilator. The patient who died from septic shock because no one monitored his vital signs. The people whose breathing tubes clogged after being abandoned in their hospital beds for hours on end. In Mexico, it’s not just the coronavirus that is claiming lives. The country’s broken health system is killing people as well. (Kitroeff and Villegas, 5/28)
The Associated Press: Patrons Under Plastic: Restaurants Get Creative In Virus Era
Dining at a table where each person is enclosed by a clear plastic shield might look and sound futuristic, but it could be one way for some restaurants to reopen. It also might help out if your companion orders escargots, heavy on the garlic. The prototype plastic shields are known as the “Plex’eat,” and they resemble big clear lampshades suspended from the ceiling. They are being showcased temporarily at H.A.N.D., a Parisian restaurant seeking a way to reopen its dining room as coronavirus restrictions are relaxed. (Adamson and Cetinic, 5/28)
Reuters: 'No Evidence' Reopening Of Finland Schools Has Spread Virus Faster
Finland has seen no evidence of the coronavirus spreading faster since schools started to reopen in the middle of May, the top health official said on Thursday. “The time has been short, but so far we have seen no evidence,” Mika Salminen, director of health security at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare, told a news conference. Finland started to reopen schools and daycare centres from May 14 following an almost two-month shutdown. (5/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Brazil’s Daily Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses That Of U.S.
Brazil has reached a grim milestone, reporting more Covid-19 deaths in one day than the U.S., which until recently had logged the most daily fatalities from the disease. Brazil’s Health Ministry reported that 1,039 people had died from the disease caused by the new coronavirus in the 24 hours through Tuesday evening, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 592 deaths in the U.S. on the same day. (Lewis and Magalhaes, 5/27)
