Latest KFF Health News Stories
Northeastern Governors Team Up To Slowly Reopen As Cuomo Declares ‘Worst Is Over’ In New York
New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts and Rhode Island governors will draw up a unified plan with the acknowledgment that the virus doesn’t heed state boundaries. On the West Coast, California, Washington state and Oregon announced a similar partnership. “If you do it wrong, it can backfire, and we’ve seen that with other places in the globe,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “What the art form is going to be here is doing that smartly and doing that in a coordinated way.” The death toll in New York climbed past 10,000, but there are some positive signs the outbreak may be plateauing. Meanwhile, states that didn’t issue lock-downs are starting to see the repercussions.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these pandemic issues and others.
Food Bank Lines Stretch For Miles As Desperate Americans Struggle Amid Economic Crisis
“Sometimes we just don’t have it,” said Donna Furlong of Texas about her and her husband’s struggle to get food. “So, he’ll go one day without eating, so I eat. And I’ll go a day eating, and vice versa.” Across the country, Americans waited in lines that were a thousand-cars deep or more to try to get help from overwhelmed food banks.
Editorial pages focus on these health issues and others.
Contact tracing is a labor-intensive process, but it’s also viewed as a crucial piece of getting the country back open. The two fierce tech rivals’ decision to partner up highlights just how serious the public health crisis is. While experts think the move could help mitigate the crisis, some critics worry about the privacy issues involved.
Federal Judge Rules Alabama Can’t Block Abortions During Coronavirus Crisis
Several states, including Alabama, have attempted to postpone abortions and shut down clinics, arguing they are not medically essential and the space and doctors might be needed to treat coronavirus patients. News on abortion rights is from Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio and Virginia, as well.
Media outlets report on news from Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Georgia, Alabama, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Arkansas, California, Texas and New York.
News outlets report on the impact of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, Israel, Spain, South Korea, Russia and China.
The 500,000 kidney patients required to get dialysis are among the most vulnerable because of the close quarters where they get treatments, The New York Times reports. Other public health news is on the opioid epidemic, virus “decision fatigue,” social-distance outliers, maternity wards, IVF postponement, demands for mental health services, virtual holiday celebrations, as well.
Pandemic Shines Harsh Light On Racial Disparities, As Well As Cultural And Class Divides In America
Black Americans are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus because of societal and economic factors that are rooted in deep disparities that existed long before the pandemic. The outbreak is largely falling on an urban-rural divide, which exacerbates a growing chasm between the two demographics that can be seen reflected in everything from political beliefs to the reaction to the crisis.
Grocery Store Workers Grow Increasingly Fearful In Workplace That ‘Feels Like A War Zone’
The nation’s 3 million grocery store workers have been on the front lines with little to protect themselves. “They’ve started telling people, ‘Go to the grocery store as little as possible.’ And yet I’m going there every day,” said Doug Preszler, a grocery store worker in Iowa. At least 41 workers have died. More news on the food supply reports on Smith shutting its pork plants, Amazon’s putting new shoppers on wait lists, and P&G’s efforts to make toilet paper in town that’s been hit hard.
A Navy investigation into the controversy is expected to be made public this week, but The New York Times spoke with two dozen current and former Navy and Defense Department civilian and uniformed personnel to get a sense of what’s going on behind the curtains.
Experts expect another surge of coronavirus cases in the fall, and Democrats worry that Wisconsin’s primary, where voters were forced to choose their safety or their civic duty, will play out at the national level during the general election voting. Meanwhile, there are some Republicans pushing for voting-by-mail despite President Donald Trump’s opposition to the practice.
Lightning-Fast Economic Collapse Makes Experts Scramble To Avoid Global Depression
“The depth of the recession, just in terms of jobs lost and fallen output, will not compare to anything we’ve seen in the last 150 years. The only question is duration,” said Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard professor and former IMF chief economist.
Democrats Have Leverage Going Into Phase 4 Stimulus Negotiations–But Will They Play Hardball?
President Donald Trump, who has tied his re-election rhetoric to the success of the economy, needs another stimulus more than the Democrats do. That gives the Democrats unusual power in an era dominated by a Republican Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has declared she intends to “double down” on the CARES Act, but some Democrats are anxious to push for even more. Other news focuses on the distribution of the $2.2 trillion “Phase 3” stimulus package.
Red Tape Ensnares Foreign Health Care Workers Trying To Help American Hospitals Amid Crisis
“The protective gear and ventilators are slowly but surely getting to the system. But if the number of cases goes up dramatically, we will have equipment and no one to operate it,” said Ron Hoppe, chief executive officer of WorldWide HealthStaff Solutions, which matches medical professionals with facilities across the United States. In other news on providers: the mental health toll the crisis is taking on front-line workers; exhausted EMS crews persevere; nurses worry about infecting patients; nursing students encountering obstacles; and more.
Some Hospitals In New York Are Pushed To Financial Brink By Surge Of Coronavirus Patients
New York City’s hospital systems are losing up to $450 million a month on coronavirus care. In other news on hospitals: federal grant distributions questioned; lessons from a disaster-zone ICU; the struggle to decide what should be converted into a backup hospital; a look at how some hospitals are staying ahead of the demand for ICU beds; and more.
CMS To Push Nursing Homes To Quickly Inform Residents, Families Of Confirmed Cases
Nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities, have been particularly hard hit by the outbreak.
Researchers Try To Solve Mystery Of ‘Super Spreaders’ To Help Control Pandemic’s Spread
Scientists largely agree that a subset of people seems to be more infectious than others, whether due to genetics, social habits or other events. “The tricky part is that we don’t necessarily know who those people are,” Dr. Jon Zelner, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, tells The New York Times.
