Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Washington Nursing Homes See Uptick In Infections, Deaths; Biogen's Boston Meeting Shows How Conferences Can Spread Infection
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Spreads To More Elder Facilities In Seattle Area
The disease caused by the novel coronavirus has turned up among residents or workers in at least 11 elder-care facilities in the Seattle area, and at least three have reported fatalities among residents, local health authorities said Tuesday. The prospect for Covid-19 breaking loose in nursing homes and other elder-care centers is a major worry around the U.S. Residents are often vulnerable to respiratory illnesses because of their age and underlying health. Outbreaks can also spread among employees, keeping them home and making it harder to staff facilities. (Kamp, 3/10)
CNN: Washington Governor Orders Nursing Homes To Limit Visitors As The Coronavirus Outbreak Spreads To More Facilities
Nursing homes have been instructed to limit visitors in Washington state as coronavirus cases spread across three facilities -- with Life Care Center in Kirkland at the epicenter of the outbreak. On Tuesday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee directed nursing homes and assisted living facilities to limit the number of visitors, keep visitors in patient rooms and screen workers every shift for coronavirus. The rules are in place until midnight on April 9, according to the order. (Holcombe, 3/11)
Stateline: In Coronavirus Epicenter, A Statehouse Scrambles To Govern
In the epicenter of the United States coronavirus outbreak, Washington state lawmakers are scrambling to pass a $100 million package to combat the disease before their legislative session ends Thursday. They’re also preparing to close the Capitol at a moment’s notice if coronavirus is found in their midst. If a legislator or staffer is diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the latest coronavirus — or if the state’s public health officials advise a shutdown — the legislature would adjourn abruptly and look for alternative methods to finish the year’s business. (Brown, 3/11)
The Wall Street Journal: How Biogen’s Strategy Meeting Spread Coronavirus In Massachusetts And Beyond
A strategy meeting for senior managers at Boston-area biotech Biogen Inc. late last month has emerged as a hotbed for novel coronavirus infections, resulting in dozens around the country so far, according to public-health and company officials. The spread of coronavirus infections from the meeting highlights the potential dangers in going ahead with the gatherings and conferences that are a staple of conducting business but that also threaten to amplify epidemics. (Walker and Abbott, 3/10)
CNN: Massachusetts Coronavirus: Boston Conference Is The Epicenter Of State's Outbreak As Governor Declares State Of Emergency
Massachusetts' coronavirus cases have more than doubled and the state's governor declared a state of emergency after employees who attended a company meeting in Boston last month tested positive for the virus. The state announced 51 new presumptive positive cases Tuesday that are awaiting confirmation by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The surge brings the total number of confirmed or presumptive positive cases in Massachusetts to 92. (Holcombe, 3/11)
The New York Times: First Coronavirus Death In New Jersey: Yonkers Raceway Worker
A New Jersey man who worked at a racetrack just north of New York City died on Tuesday after contracting the coronavirus — the first known fatality in the Northeast linked to the virus. Yonkers Raceway, the popular harness-racing track, shut down Tuesday afternoon and has asked employees who spent time near the horse paddock to remain under quarantine. The man, who was 69 and lived in Little Ferry, a small Bergen County town about 15 miles northwest of Manhattan, had gone to his doctor last week complaining of a fever and a cough, the state’s health commissioner, Judith Persichilli, said. (Tully, 3/10)
The Washington Post: This Homeless Shelter Offers A Hot Meal, A Bed And Information About Coronavirus
With a hot meal in their stomachs, the men gathered for nightly chapel service, where the Rev. Ron Stanley told them about the homeless shelter rules — and the coronavirus. Stanley, a leader in the men’s ministry at Central Union Mission in the District, began what will become regular health briefings with the men at the shelter early this week. (Simon, 3/10)
The New York Times: For 4 Days, The Hospital Thought He Had Just Pneumonia. It Was Coronavirus.
The lawyer, 50, was struggling to breathe. His neighbor took him to a nearby hospital, in an affluent suburb about 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. He seemed to have just pneumonia. Doctors put him in an ordinary room on the fifth floor. It would be more than four days before anyone figured out what actually ailed him: the new coronavirus. The discovery on March 2 that the man, Lawrence Garbuz, was infected was the first indication that the virus was circulating in New York through community spread. (Goldstein and Salcedo, 3/10)
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Patient Recounts Coming ‘One Inch From Death’
Marc Thibault was groggy and surrounded by beeping machines, but he was alert enough to know what it meant when he looked up and saw a priest, wearing protective gear, by his bedside at the Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island. “Holy cow,” he thought to himself. “I’m 48 years old and I’m getting my last rites.” (Levitz, 3/10)
Roll Call: Gridiron Dinner Canceled Over Coronavirus Concerns In D.C.
The Gridiron Club and Foundation has called off its dinner this year due to coronavirus concerns, organizers announced Tuesday. “We canceled the dinner because we didn’t want to put people at risk,” said the group’s president, Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The event was set for Saturday. Hosted by an invitation-only club of the Washington journalism establishment, the annual dinner attracts media executives, lawmakers and administration officials. It’s been a sought-after ticket on the D.C. social circuit for over 130 years. (Gilbert, 3/10)
USA Today: War On Coronavirus: Residents In Suburban Atlanta Town Find Comfort Near CDC Headquarters
When Dr. Nancy Messonnier warned the nation in late February that the spread of coronavirus was "inevitable," her words and tone demanded attention. She was every mom and she was serious. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Disease told reporters she contacted her kids' school superintendent in this Atlanta suburb about safety measures and urged others to take similar action. (Ellis and O'Donnell, 3/10)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Races To Respond To Coronavirus As Cases Rise To 22
State officials have transferred the first patient who tested positive for the disease caused by a coronavirus to a state park used to isolate and monitor Georgians exposed to the illness. And Georgia officials late Tuesday said the number of residents who are confirmed or presumed to have the disease, known as COVID-19, has grown to 22 cases - including the first in south Georgia. All but one of the residents are hospitalized, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. And for most of these people infected by the the coronavirus, the source of exposure is unknown. (Oliviero, Bluestein and Redmon, 3/10)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Coronavirus’s Rise In Georgia Doesn’t Halt Massive Public Events
A parade drawing more than a half-million spectators who then enter taverns to drink and carouse. Election-season speeches, protests and town halls mingling impassioned crowds with government officials and social leaders. Some of the biggest sports gatherings on the calendar. Even as Georgia’s coronavirus case count mounts, these events and more are scheduled here in the coming month. Local and state officials are trying to figure out what to do. (Habersham, Toone and Hart, 3/10)
WBUR: Harvard Global Health Expert: Mass. Hospitals Face Capacity Problem If Coronavirus Cases Spike Quickly
Coronavirus cases are mounting in Massachusetts. State officials announced Tuesday that 51 more people had tested positive since the day before.Hospitals are focusing on capacity and whether they're equipped to handle a possible surge in patients. (Joliocoeur and Mullins, 3/10)
Boston Globe: Baker Declares State Of Emergency As Coronavirus Cases More Than Double
Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts on Tuesday, as the number of Covid-19 cases in the state more than doubled to 92 and the first cases with no known source broke out in Berkshire County. Seeking to slow the spread of the virus, Baker announced travel restrictions on all 42,000 employees of the state’s executive branch, banning out-of-state work-related travel and in-person conferences and seminars. He urged other large employers to do the same. (Freyer, Stout and Finucane, 3/10)
Boston Globe: Two New R.I. Coronavirus Cases: A Traveler To Egypt And A Health Care Worker
A woman in her 50s who traveled to Egypt and a Rhode Island Hospital health care worker in her 30s have tested positive for coronavirus, the Rhode Island Department of Health reported Tuesday evening. Both women are recovering at home, health officials said. The source of the health care worker’s infection is not known. (Milkovits, McGowan and Fitzpatrick, 3/10)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison VA Hospital Begins Screening All Visitors For Coronavirus
Visitors, employees and patients coming to the VA hospital in Madison will be screened for coronavirus before they're allowed to enter. Anyone entering the William S. Middleton Memorial Hospital in Madison will be screened at the main entrance from 5:45 a.m. to 7 p.m. All other doors will be locked.At the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, visitors are being restricted at the facility's spinal cord clinic and nursing home. (Jones, 3/10)
Cincinnati Enquirer: With New Kits, Ohio Can Now Test Up To 800 People For Novel Coronavirus
As many as 800 Ohioans could be tested for the novel coronavirus, now that just-manufactured test kits have arrived at the Ohio Department of Health. The kits were used to detect the three initial cases of the infection in the Buckeye State, a department spokeswoman said. Testing for the virus had been virtually halted nationwide for weeks when the test manufacturer issued a recall in February. (Saker, 3/10)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Coronavirus Threat Mounts With Two More Louisiana Cases; Hospitals, Schools, Churches Scramble
Louisiana’s second and third presumed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, were reported Tuesday in the New Orleans area as institutions from the Catholic Church to local schools and hospitals began taking steps to blunt the force of an epidemic still in its explosive infancy. (Simerman, 3/10)
