Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New COVID Cases Tied To Sturgis Motorcyle Rally
NBC News: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Tied To New Coronavirus Cases A State Away In Nebraska
Coronavirus cases tied to this month's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota have appeared across state lines in Nebraska, public health officials said Thursday. At least seven new cases in the region have been tied to the rally, the Panhandle Public Health District confirmed to NBC News. The health department did not provide further details. (Madani, 8/20)
The Daily Mail: Cellphone Data Tracks Movements Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Americans Traveling To And From South Dakota's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Cellphone data has tracked the movements of hundreds of thousands of Americans traveling to an annual motorcycle rally in South Dakota and those vacationing in Las Vegas amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The maps created by data visualization company Tectonix, with the help of location-data firms X-Mode Social and SafeGraph, shows the extent of the widespread travel from across the country. (Crane, 8/20)
Kaiser Health News: Deadly Mix: How Bars Are Fueling COVID-19 Outbreaks
From the early days of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, states have wrestled with the best course of action for bars and nightclubs, which largely have their economic prospects tied to social gatherings in tight quarters. As the virus has pinched the industry’s lifeblood, bar owners in a handful of states are fighting in court against government orders that they stay closed.But public health experts and top health officials, including the nation’s top infectious diseases official, Dr. Anthony Fauci, have said: When bars open, infections tend to follow. (Stone, 8/21)
In other public health news —
USA Today: Masks In Public Restrooms? Urinals May Shoot 'Plumes' Of Inhalable Coronavirus Particles Into The Air
Wearing a mask in public restrooms should be mandatory during the pandemic, researchers say, because there's increasing evidence that flushing toilets – and now urinals – can release inhalable coronavirus particles into the air. The coronavirus can be found in a person's urine or stool, and flushing urinals can generate an "alarming upward flow" of particles that "travel faster and fly farther" than particles from a toilet flush, according to a study published in the journal Physics of Fluid Monday. (Hauck, 8/18)
San Francisco Chronicle: With N95s Scarce, What Masks Can Protect You From Both Smoke And COVID-19?
As wildfires relentlessly blaze through, Northern California’s air quality became the worst in the world on Wednesday as dense smoke polluted the air — with no signs of letting up. But the masks that were recommended for preventing smoke inhalation in previous wildfire seasons — N95s — are in short supply this year because of the pandemic. (Echeverria, 8/21)
ABC News: Mom Traveling With 6 Kids Kicked Off Flight After 2-Year-Old Refuses To Wear Mask
A mother and her six children were kicked off of a JetBlue Airways flight Wednesday after her 2-year-old daughter refused to wear a mask. "It was extremely traumatizing for me and my family," the mother, Chaya Bruck, 39, from Brooklyn, said in an interview with ABC News. Bruck said she tried to put a mask on her youngest child, Dina, but she pulled it off. (Kaji, Benitez and Sweeney, 8/20)
CIDRAP: More Teens Got Routine Vaccines In 2019, But Doctor Orders Dropped Amid COVID
More US teens received at least one dose of two of the three vaccines recommended for their age-group in 2019 than in 2018, but vaccination orders dropped after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to a study by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that 11- and 12-year-old children be vaccinated against pertussis (whooping cough); meningitis (swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord) types A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY); and human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers. Teens 16 years and older are urged to receive a booster dose of the meningococcal vaccine, and those 16 to 23 years old can be vaccinated against meningitis B (MenB), if appropriate. (8/20)
WBUR: Daycare, Grandparent, Pod Or Nanny? How To Manage The Risks Of Pandemic Child Care
Pre-pandemic, about half of U.S. families reported having trouble finding care for a young child. That number jumped to nearly two thirds this spring, as daycares closed and other caretakers, such as grandparents and nannies, were told to stay home.And with many schools operating remotely, in a hybrid model or abruptly changing course this fall, many more parents, including those with kids in elementary school and beyond, are grappling with a child care crisis. (Harmon Courage, 8/21)
NBC News: COVID-19's Death And Suffering Could Lead Us To Rebirth, As The Bubonic Plague Did In Europe
As we wrestle with our contemporary challenges, it's important that we look back and learn from those who survived and ultimately surmounted similar ones 700 years ago. Doing so may give us something we're short on: hope. (Oren, 8/20)
WBUR: How To Mitigate Loneliness And Its Consequences
Long before COVID-19 changed so much of how we interact with one another, Dr. Vivek Murthy was on a mission to make us think of loneliness as a public health issue. A few years ago, the former U.S. surgeon general under President Obama framed the condition of loneliness — which can reduce life expectancy and limit creativity — as an epidemic in the United States. (Mosley and McMahon, 8/20)
Also —
The Hill: Former Secretary Of State James Baker Announces Coronavirus Diagnosis
Former Secretary of State James Baker and his wife are recovering at home in Houston, Texas, after testing positive for coronavirus, a spokesperson said Thursday. A spokesperson for Baker confirmed the diagnosis to CNN and said the pair believe they caught the virus during a family trip to Wyoming. (Bowden, 8/20)
