Latest KFF Health News Stories
“I have never seen patients so sick before,’’ said Tamara Williams, a 40-year-old nurse from Dallas who traveled to New York to help with the surge of patients. “And dying, despite everything that we’re doing.” In other news on health care workers: a suicide of a top doctor highlights the mental health toll on providers; mental hospital staff calls for more testing; health care workers are being assaulted and ostracized in some place in the world; and more.
While few children are displaying the symptoms of potentially fatal toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, the warnings are significant because until now children weren’t considered vulnerable compared to their parents and grandparents.
Chills, Muscle Pain, Sore Throat And Headache Make It Onto List Of CDC’s Official COVID-19 Symptoms
Doctors continue to report strange symptoms with the illness — like COVID Toes, a skin reaction found on the feet of many patients — but the CDC has kept its list fairly narrow until now. The agency just added six new symptoms to the official guidelines of what to look for to diagnose the disease.
Complaints Over Delays, Glitches Roll In As Small-Business Loan Program Reopens For Applications
“The SBA’s systems were not designed to and are not capable of handling the volume of loans banks processed over the last several weeks for small businesses,” said Richard Hunt, chief executive of the Consumer Bankers Association.
McConnell’s Trade-Off: If Next Relief Package Bails Out States It Needs To Include Liability Waivers
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made waves in recent days when he suggested states file for bankruptcy–a move that experts say would send the country into a prolonged depression. McConnell on Monday cracked the door on a potential deal that could include money for states. But it would have to come at a price.
Republican Strategists Worry GOP’s Stance Against Mail-In-Voting Gives Democrats A Head Start
After Wisconsin’s chaotic primary, Republicans see an appetite among Americans to avoid in-person voting. While the leaders of the party continue to fight against the mail-in-voting push, some in the GOP think it’s putting them behind as the country inevitably moves in that direction. Meanwhile, Democrats’ strategy heading toward November is going to focus on President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response.
There is still a glimmer of a positive result in the study of patients given the arthritis drug sarilumab, sold as Kevzara, for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Trials for that group of patients will continue.
A Front-Runner Jumps Out Ahead In Race For A Vaccine–And It’s Not Moderna
An Oxford University laboratory had a head start with a vaccine for a different strain of the coronavirus. Where other trials have to start small, the Oxford vaccine has already been found to be harmless in humans. The Oxford scientists now say that with an emergency approval from regulators, the first few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September — if it proves effective.
Trump Unveils Testing Plan That Falls Far Short Of What Public Health Experts Say Is Necessary
President Donald Trump has been saying for weeks that states have enough testing capabilities, while also promising but failing to ramp up testing. The latest White House plan gives states the ability to test at least 2 percent of their populations per month. Even if it is implemented, experts warn it’s a far cry from what’s necessary to reopen country. Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence will visit the Mayo Clinic to learn about a new testing “moonshot.”
Trump Was Warned About Virus Threat In More Than A Dozen Intelligence Reports In January, February
The Washington Post offers more evidence that President Donald Trump was informed of the coronavirus threat at least a dozen times in the President’s Daily Brief early in the year, while he continued to downplay the outbreak to the public. Meanwhile, Trump’s dangerous comments about injecting disinfectants haunt him more than other false claims he’s made. And Trump’s decision to freeze WHO funding allows China to step up into a more prominent global role.
White House Finalizing Guidelines To Help States Reopen In Phases
The effort has sparked sharp debates between public health experts and other officials who fear the guidance could restrict worship services, damage the profitability of restaurants and upend daily life in a way they deem unnecessary. President Donald Trump is also pushing for schools to reopen before the end of the year.
Texas and Ohio are joining some other southern states who are trying to lift some restrictions, but health experts continue to warn that it’s a bad idea and will likely prolong the outbreak. Meanwhile, even as Americans long for a return to “normalcy,” many say the country is not just going to go back to how it once was. Shutdown news comes from the West Coast and Northeast, as well.
The popular predictive model is often cited by the White House, and has been more conservative in its death estimates than other models. On Monday those scientists adjusted the predictions up for the summer to more than 74,000 deaths. Meanwhile, analysis looking at year-over-year numbers suggests that there are thousands of deaths that are related to COVID-19 but that aren’t being counted.
Supreme Court Sides With Insurers In $12B Case Over Promised Risk-Corridor Funds Under ACA
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the federal government must live up to its promise to shield insurance companies from some of the risks they took in participating in the health law exchanges. Insurers who accused the government of a “bait and switch” claimed they are owed $12 billion.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these pandemic issues and others.
Administration Latched Onto Model That Predicted Far Rosier Outbreak Outcome Than Most Others
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projected as few as 60,000 American deaths and a tapering off of the outbreak at the end of April. The Trump administration’s response was shaped in part by the more optimistic forecast–and exposes the vulnerability that comes with relying on any one model to predict the future. Meanwhile, media outlets dissect President Donald Trump’s statements during his press briefings even as he announces he’ll be paring them back.
Editorial pages focus on these pandemic issues and others.
The suit filed by Gilead Sciences on Friday is the latest twist between the drug company and the U.S. government over patent rights to research that led to the ground-breaking drug Truvada. Other pharmaceutical news reports on an experimental multiple sclerosis medication and bespoke cell therapy for lung cancer treatment.
Officials in California told ABC News they believe domestic violence is increasing but the abused are stuck at home with their abusers and can’t alert authorities. Other public health news is on sexual assaults of children, a shocking recovery after 32 days on a ventilator, hospitalization declines for acute conditions, travel risks, life-saving surgeries, curbside vaccinations for children and when to wear a mask, as well.
