Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Overwhelming Sense Of Failure Consumes Health Care Workers In Italy, Spain As Outbreak Continues
The Associated Press: Italy, Spain ICU Pressures Decline, But Emotional Toll Rises
Maddalena Ferrari lets herself cry when she takes off the surgical mask she wears even at home to protect her elderly parents from the coronavirus that surrounds her at work in one of Italy’s hardest-hit intensive care units. In the privacy of her own bedroom, where no one can see, the nursing coordinator peels away the mask that both protects her and hides her, and weeps for all the patients lost that day at Bergamo’s Pope John XXIII Hospital. “We’re losing an entire generation,” Ferrari said at the end of one of her shifts. “They still had so much to teach us.” (Winfield, Murru and Parra, 4/8)
CIDRAP: Experts In Italy, Asia Share COVID-19 ICU Experience, Warnings
Median patient age was 63, and 1,304 (82%) were male. A total of 363 patients (23%) were 71 years and older, while 203 (13%) were younger than 51. Of the 1,043 patients with available data, 709 (68%) had at least one underlying illness, including 509 (49%) with high blood pressure, 223 (21%) with cardiovascular disease, 188 (18%) with high cholesterol, and 42 (4%) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.High blood pressure was 23 percentage points more prevalent in patients who died (63%, 195 of 309 patients) than in those released from the ICU (40%, 84 of 212). All patients older than 80 had at least one underlying illness, as did 496 of 650 patients older than 60 (76%). (Van Beusekom, 4/7)
The Wall Street Journal: Italy’s Economic Pain Shows Burden Of National Coronavirus Lockdowns
Italy’s month-old lockdown is slowing the coronavirus, but its economy is gasping for breath. Manufacturers in March had their worst month since records began, and are warning the government that they could lose customers to German and other foreign competitors unless factories reopen soon. Restaurants that have survived world wars are in danger of never opening again. Agriculture needs to find at least 200,000 seasonal workers, who normally come from abroad, before fruit and vegetables start rotting in the fields. (Sylvers and Stancati, 4/7)
The New York Times: Japan Declared A Coronavirus Emergency. Is It Too Late?
For months, Japan has confounded the world by reporting a relatively low rate of coronavirus infections without imposing the kind of stringent measures used by other nations. As the country now declares a state of emergency in the face of a worrisome rise in cases, medical experts are wondering whether the move on Tuesday has come just in time to avoid calamity, or is too little, too late. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in announcing that the declaration would apply to Japan’s biggest population centers for the next month, painted an optimistic picture. (Rich, Ueno and Inoue, 4/7)
Politico: How Europe Failed The Coronavirus Test
They could have known. They should have prepared. They didn’t listen. Europe, in early April, remains the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic — where the outbreak, uncontrolled, morphed into catastrophe. Nearly 50,000 dead. More than 600,000 infected. And the devastation is far from over. (Herszenhorn and Wheaton, 4/8)
