Latest KFF Health News Stories
Media outlets report on outbreak news from New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Ohio, Nevada, Texas, and Tennessee.
A medical director says one of the nation’s largest outbreaks in a Tennessee prison where 583 inmates have been sickened might have come from the staff. While some states have responsibly updated websites daily about outbreaks in prisons, others provide very little information, according to a WBUR story putting the national infection tally at 15,000 inmates and jail staff with 130 deaths.
Editorial pages focus on these pandemic issues and others.
Global outbreak news is reported from Sweden, Greece, South Korea, the Netherlands, China, Niger, Japan and South Africa.
Social distancing is saving lives, doctors say, but a Modern Healthcare report finds that many patients are waiting to deal with acute conditions, elective procedures and vaccinations. Meanwhile, a report from the John A. Hartford Foundation looks at how seniors are coping with stay-at-home orders. Other public health news reports on experimental plasma treatments, fewer drivers but more fatal crashes, heat-wave worries, challenges for clinical trials, supplying mental health needs, sanitizer poisonings in children, library efforts to serve most vulnerable, canine positive, increased child sexual abuse and more.
Pandemic Strips Bare The Racial Disparities Deeply Baked Into America’s Health System
Black Americans have been hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic. “While Covid-19 has not created the circumstances that have brought about health inequities, it has and will continue to severely exacerbate existing and alarming social inequities along racial and ethnic lines,” the American Medical Association wrote.
Politico’s worst-case scenario involves a range of problems from people being afraid to go out to vote, weak voter registrations, the possible crash of the U.S. Postal Service and even more extreme situations where the president could use emergency powers to shut down cities on Election Day. News about the upcoming election is reported from Massachusetts and Wisconsin, as well.
A desperate hunger for coronavirus data has many overriding privacy concerns usually in place to protect patients. Politico looks at the ways the outbreak could leave a lasting mark on what is considered acceptable. In other health tech news: virus apps, the psychology of Zoom and telehealth.
Slew Of Ethical Guidelines For Health Workers In Charge Of Rationing Ventilators Vary Significantly
But many of the plans give preference for scarce ventilators to health care workers. Providers have been struggling with the threat of shortages since the pandemic began. In other heath worker news: airway experts fear excessive exposure, lack of N95s endanger workers, the mental toll coronavirus care is taking on medical professionals and more.
Grim GDP Report From First Quarter Only ‘Tip Of Iceberg’ Of Bad Economic Numbers To Come Next
While the expected GDP drop from the first quarter of 2020 would be the sharpest since the Great Recession, experts say the second quarter will be far worse. That hit could be “three times as large as what we experienced in the global financial crisis,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist for Oxford Economics. In other economic news: consumer confidence plummets, IRS scrambles to get stimulus payments out, as states reopen workers might be forced off unemployment pay and more.
Democrats Pan McConnell’s Push For Liability Coverage In Next Relief Package
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that if Democrats want another stimulus package it will need to include liability protections for businesses whose employees may sue if they get sick. “I don’t think at this time, with the coronavirus, that there’s any interest in having any less protection with our workers,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Meanwhile, the House abruptly reversed its decision to return to Washington next week.
Antibody Testing: What Exactly Does It Do, Can You Get One, And Are They Accurate?
Media outlets answer questions about antibody testing, which many see as crucial to reopening the country. Meanwhile, Democrats grill companies about the accuracy of their products.
One of the big questions surrounding the novel coronavirus is whether it is airborne in a way that would cause infection if someone breathed in the lingering droplets. In other scientific news: the virus’s lethality, the susceptibility of cancer patients, the effects in pregnant women and more.
The experimental vaccines still face a gauntlet of testing to make sure they are effective and safe, which could derail efforts to expedite use. But many companies have taken measures to shave months, if not years, off the normal development process. Companies have a huge financial incentive to be the winners of this particular race. Meanwhile, anti-vaccine groups already are launching a campaign against whichever emerges even though it’s not developed yet.
Many Labs Say They Can Process Far More Tests Than Ordered. Experts Blame A Disorganized System.
Increased testing is crucial to returning to a semblance of normalcy, but the U.S. has failed since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak to meet demand. Labs, however, say they have the capacity and they’re just not being used.
Even In States Lifting Restrictions, There’s Little Appetite From Leaders To Reopen Schools Soon
Some school systems are even anticipating continuing distance learning into the fall. When children do go back to the classrooms, teachers and leaders are acknowledging there need to be deep changes to ensure their safety.
Consumers’ Fear Of Pandemic Could Thwart Some States’ Eager Rush To Reopen Economy
Just because stay-at-home orders are lifted doesn’t mean Americans will want to flood into movie theaters and bowling alleys, which could be fertile ground for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the day-to-day choices of what is safe for Americans is made harder when states partially lift lock-downs. In other news on the shutdowns: quarantine fatigue, the future of handshakes and a potential second wave this fall. Media outlets also cover which states are lifting restrictions.
Trump Orders Meat Plants To Stay Open Even As They Emerge As Virus Hot Spots
Workers in the plants have been getting sick because of their forced proximity with each other, causing slaughterhouses to shutter across the country. A fear of food shortages prompted President Donald Trump to deem the plants “critical infrastructure,” which gives the owners liability coverage if workers get sick on the job.
“I don’t think people appreciate how tired the department is,” one former Trump HHS appointee told Politico. “Your effectiveness wears down after you’ve been in a fight — and for 100 days, HHS has been kicked in the teeth.” Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo berates the “whole alphabet soup of agencies” for early missteps during the pandemic.
Pence Defies Mask Rule As He Tours Mayo Clinic Confident He Doesn’t Have Virus
Vice President Mike Pence raised eyebrows when images emerged of him as the lone person touring the Mayo Clinic without a mask. Pence, who leads the White House’s coronavirus task force, says that masks are meant to prevent the wearer from spreading the virus and since he’s been regularly tested he knows he’s not infected. The move was part of a larger trend within the Trump administration to forgo masks counter to CDC guidance.
