Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘It’s A Wild West Show Out There’: Lack Of FDA Oversight Creates Chaotic Marketplace For Blood Tests
Experts agree that widespread testing is needed for the country to re-open, but America continues to struggle to meet the mark. To speed the availability of quick blood tests to determine if someone has the virus, the FDA waived layers of usual reviews. But that lack of oversight might backfire as questionable tests flood the marketplace. Meanwhile, South Korea, which has won praise for its aggressive testing, is sending 600,000 kits to America this week.
Trump Itching To Reopen Country, But Public Health Officials And Governors Worry About Another Surge
President Donald Trump is signaling his interest in reopening the country by May 1, though the final decision for each state lays with governors. As of now there doesn’t seem to be a federal plan for how vital functions like air and surface transport can safely resume without triggering a new wave of mass infections, and state leaders and public health officials warn about returning to normalcy too quickly. Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested that there might be a possibility of a “rolling re-entry” in May.
Opinion writers weigh in on these pandemic topics and others.
Editorial pages focus on these health care topics and others.
Will Americans Warm Up To Robots In Place Of Workers Amid Threat Of Being Exposed To Virus?
Before the pandemic, automation had been gradually replacing human work in a range of jobs, but the pandemic could speed up that process as society sees the benefits of restructuring workplaces in ways that minimize close human contact. In other health and technology news: Alexa’s role in the pandemic, telemedicine use, and security concerns.
Time To Quit: Health Officials Sound New Alarms About Risky Habits Of Smoking, Vaping
A recent study has shown that people who smoke are twice as likely to have severe infections. Some health experts wonder if the numbers of young people impacted could be due to vaping habits. “I believe it is critically important for us to help people quit inhaling anything into their lungs that could be causing any type of inflammation, as the coronavirus will only find an inviting environment otherwise,” said Dr. Carolyn Dresler,
The state launched a new hotline, but families are still unable to obtain information about how many cases exist in individual nursing homes. And in many cases, they can’t get updates on parents. News on nursing homes is reported from California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, as well.
Chicago Hospital Built After 9/11 To Handle Mass Casualties Faces First Big Test
The Washington Post takes a look inside Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, which was designed to handle just such an event as the coronavirus outbreak. For example, instead of patients being held in a crowded waiting room, the ambulance bay has been transformed into a triage area that keeps potential patients separated. Other hospitals news focuses on the financial burden as well as the preparedness of the facilities.
Media outlets report on news from Ohio, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Georgia.
In January, after its first patient tested positive, the government set up a crisis team and tracked down those who had contact with the patient. They even identified a salt shaker she touched that others handled. Germany’s coronavirus death rate is among the lowest. Global news reports are from Iceland, England, China and other nations.
Some of the nation’s food banks and soup kitchens are having to suspend operations and find novel ways to get food to people where they need it. More food-supply news reports on infections spreading among poultry workers and grocery story workers.
‘Jails In This Country Are Petri Dishes’: Infections And Unrest Both Spread Fast In Crowded Prisons
News on how prisons in Washington state, Illinois, New York, Louisiana and Massachusetts.
Most Of Country Has Been Put On Hold, But Culture Wars March On
The fight over abortion has been exacerbated as some conservative state governments use the opportunity to limit the medical procedure as if it were elective. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Texas temporarily halts the state’s ban on abortions.
Humans Aren’t Built To Make Good Decisions During A Pandemic
When there is a lack of information, emotions can fill in the gaps. And when those emotions are miscalibrated, they can lead to bad judgment — or dangerous behavior. It doesn’t help that the virus is an invisible threat and has also become politicized. In other public health news: air pollution, religious celebrations, hand-shaking, racial disparities, how the virus spread, the millennial zeitgeist, comic relief, and more.
By Taking An Experimental Drug, Patients Are ‘Treating The Emotion’ Rather Than The Disease
“Many drugs we believed were fantastic ended up killing people,” said Dr. Andre Kalil, a principal investigator in the federal government’s clinical trial of drugs that may treat the coronavirus. “It is so hard to keep explaining that.” In recent days, as President Donald Trump touts an unproven treatment for coronavirus, Kalil has been haunted by outbreaks from the past when patients were given untested drugs and then died from them. The New York Times takes a look at the team’s efforts to find a scientifically sound treatment. Meanwhile, others scramble for a cure, as well.
It’s Not Just Providers’ Health Impacted By Rationed Gear: Patients Get Less Care When PPE Runs Low
Health workers are reporting that they’re going into their patients rooms less because they can’t take the usual safety precautions of swapping into new protective gear. “People haven’t been seen in several hours overnight,” a medical provider at Long Island Jewish said. “And when the morning team comes on, the person is sicker, or dead.” In other health health worker news: hospitals threaten workers against speaking out, faulty N95 masks hamper care, vulnerable pharmacists are getting sick, some hospitals lay off employees during crisis, recovering doctors head back to work, and more.
Fact Checkers: Mail-In Voting Doesn’t Benefit Democrats Over Republicans Nor Does It Increase Fraud
President Donald Trump continues to push back against growing calls for vote-by-mail for November, with false claims about the process. But those who study mail-in voting say that it doesn’t benefit either party over the other. Meanwhile, presumptive-Democratic nominee Joe Biden pivots on health care to woo progressives after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ends his campaign.
There’s a growing agreement between economists that the government’s actions were too small and came too late to help in a significant way. The Federal Reserve announced that it is rolling out a $2.3 trillion “Main Street” program to bolster local governments and small- and mid-sized businesses, but experts say that still might not even be enough. The full impact of the virus may take years to grasp, but economists agree that its legacy is likely to be economic devastation and mountains of debt.
A showdown on Thursday between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill previewed a tough fight to come over future coronavirus stimulus legislation. Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ attempts to pass a $250 billion bill that exclusively helped small businesses, wanting additional aid for health providers and hospitals too. Republican senators balked at adding more money.
Under the community-based coronavirus testing site program, the federal government supplies expertise, testing materials, protective equipment and lab contracts to local authorities in 41 sites. The federal government had wanted states to take over the programs. More regional testing news is reported out of California, Georgia and Colorado, as well.
