Latest KFF Health News Stories
NPR interviews medical residents about how the pandemic is impacting their lives and shaping their careers. Other news on health care workers reports on nurses and medical examiners, as well.
Enlargement Of Heart’s Right Ventricle Could Be Major Predictor In COVID Patients’ Mortality Risk
The enlargement may be caused by obstruction of blood flow in the lungs due to blood clots or lung tissue damage. In other scientific news on the virus: new symptoms, infection risks, how the virus sheds and more.
Powell, Mnuchin To Face Congressional Grilling Over How They’re Handling Emergency Spending
The Treasury Department has so far disbursed only $37.5 billion of the $500 billion carved out in the CARES Act. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will appear via videoconference to answer lawmakers’ questions about the spending.
Restaurant Owners Offer Reality Check To Trump As President Touts Progress Made Toward Reopening
During a meeting with restaurant owners, President Donald Trump was in a notably good mood. “It almost feels like today is the first day,” Trump said at another point in the meeting. “Last week didn’t feel the same. Now it feels good. People are starting to go out. They’re opening. They get it.” But restaurant owners said they’re a long way away from normal operations.
The drugmaker didn’t provide an explanation of why it was increasing the donation of its medication that has shown to help treat coronavirus patients. Meanwhile, Gilead seems eager to convince skeptical investors that the $1 billion spent this year on development and production can eventually yield a real return.
Global pandemic developments are reported out of Russia, Brazil, India, Germany, France, Mexico, Italy, China and other nations.
Media outlets report on news from New Mexico, New York, Texas, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Michigan and New Jersey, as well.
Going Without Life-Saving Therapy: Social Distancing Orders Complicate Mental Health Care Crisis
Advocates worry that many homeless people are avoiding shelters where their mental health needs are identified by experts. Meanwhile, other people who have been staying at home might be developing anxiety and depression that will cause them to require therapy from an underfunded system already stretched thin. Other public health news is on air travel safety, a new vulnerability to biological attacks, air pollution alarms, day care concerns, new workplace settings and the dip in organ donations, as well.
Measles Outbreaks?: Significant Vaccination Drop Raises Concerns About Common Spreadable Diseases
Fewer than 50% of infants 5 months or younger are up to date on their vaccines for measles and pertussis in Michigan, according to the CDC — a trend likely occurring in the rest of the country as parents were reluctant to visit doctors’ offices during the pandemic.
OSHA Says New Safety Rules Aren’t Needed As Country Reopens. Workers Beg To Disagree.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has said that because of the fluid nature of the crisis it doesn’t believe any new regulations are warranted at this time. But advocates say there are clear-cut measures employers can take–like providing personal protective gear–that aren’t likely to change in the coming months.
‘We’re In Same Storm But Not Same Boat’: Racial, Economic Disparities Stark In Data On NYC Deaths
The data released Monday reinforced earlier revelations that black and Hispanic New Yorkers were both more than twice as likely to be killed by the virus as white people.
In Latest Salvo In Mail-In-Voting War, Advocates Sue Wisconsin Over Absentee Ballots
Advocacy groups want Wisconsin to send an absentee ballot to every voter in the state. Meanwhile, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and other groups sues New Jersey, arguing that the state’s signature-match requirement for mail-in ballots disenfranchises thousands of voters.
‘Sea Of Sleaze’: Rampant Fraud, Price Gouging Hamper Efforts To Get Health Workers Protective Gear
While profiteers and crooks make their fortunes, medical workers across the United States ration masks, recycle them or treat infected patients without protective equipment.
Hospitals Prepared For An Onslaught The Likes Of NYC’s Outbreak. For Some, That Surge Never Came.
Hospitals around the U.S. scrambled to ramp up beds, build triage tests and cancel all other procedures in the early days of the crisis. Then the total shut down flattened the curve.
Stat spoke with experts about the potential lasting changes the pandemic could bring to the health industry. Meanwhile, public health experts worry about underfunded community health systems in the midst of the crisis.
Nursing Homes Should Be Among Last To Reopen CMS Says As It Urges ‘Extreme Caution’
The Trump administration’s guidelines urge state and local officials to refrain from allowing virtually all visitors into nursing homes or other senior care facilities until several conditions are met, including that all residents and staff test negative for the coronavirus for at least 28 days. Other news on nursing homes in Canada, Louisiana, California and Nevada is reported.
So far, more than 1,508,800 Americans have been infected by COVID-19 and at least 90,369 have died. But even as cases continue to climb, states are moving toward reopening. In related news: Democrats in metro areas might thwart conservatives’ push to reopen; a judge halts order that tossed out Oregon’s stay-at-home restrictions; Florida holds its breath as it returns to normalcy; the need for public bathrooms could undercut people’s desires to venture out; and more.
CDC Plans To Test Hundreds Of Thousands Of Americans To See How Much The Virus Has Actually Spread
Early studies have suggested the coronavirus is far more pervasive throughout the United States than current testing shows. In other news on tracking the spread: tracing jobs are on the rise, technical glitches thwart some states’ efforts, a debate over sharing data with law enforcement brews, and more.
Trump Threatens To Permanently Cut Off Funding To WHO After China Pledges $2B To Help Fight Virus
American officials decried Chinese President Xi Jinping’s decision to contribute $2 billion to the global efforts to contain the pandemic as an attempt by China to forestall closer scrutiny of whether it hid information about the outbreak to the world. Late on Monday, President Donald Trump released a scathing letter that laid out his grievances with both WHO and China, both popular targets for the president in recent weeks.
Promising Results In Moderna Trial Just A Baby Step On Long Path Toward Successful Vaccine
The encouraging data comes from just eight people who took part in a 45-subject safety trial that kicked off in March. But the study did find that the vaccine appears to generate an immune response similar to that seen in people who have been infected by the virus and recovered. The FDA gave Moderna the green light to begin a Phase II study expected to enroll an additional 600 volunteers.
