Latest KFF Health News Stories
States Begin Lifting Shutdown Measures Even As Experts Remain Wary
Quarantine fatigue and economic concerns weigh heavy on governors as they move to slowly reopen their states. But Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus task force coordinator, says that social distancing measures should remain in place through the summer.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Longer Looks: Immigration; The Next Pandemic; How To End Social Distancing; And More
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Opinion writers express views about pandemic issues.
Lacking U.S. Aid, African Countries Fall Dangerously Behind In Obtaining Virus Equipment
More than 70 countries have restricted exports of medical supplies, putting Africa in peril, the U.N. says. Now, African countries are pooling efforts, but richer countries outbid them for equipment. Ten African countries have no ventilators. Media outlets report on news from China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, as well.
Psychiatric Hospital Personnel Worry They’ll Be Forgotten As Attention Focuses On Front-Line Workers
Psychiatric hospitals present special challenges to the strictures of social distancing, since many patients are allowed to come and go, in and out of the center, and once inside, they are not cloistered. This is creating a dangerous atmosphere for the staff working in the hospitals. In other provider news: new safety precautions pay off, certificate-of-need laws challenged, pay is being slashed for front-line workers, and more.
‘Err On The Side Of Patient Care’: Doctors Turn To Untested Machine Learning To Monitor Virus
Physicians are prematurely relying on Epic’s deterioration index, saying they’re unable to wait for a validation process that can take months to years. The artificial intelligence gives them a snapshot of a patient’s illness and helps them determine who needs more careful monitoring. News on technology is from Verily, Google, MIT, Livongo and more, as well.
Inadequate Testing In Nursing Homes Allows Rapid Spread Of Deadly Outbreaks, Advocates Say
As more than 11,000 of the nation’s deaths have been in nursing homes, advocates call for universal testing for all staff and vulnerable patients, citing the federal government’s and states’ failures to not make it the top priority. News on nursing homes is from Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Louisiana, California and Georgia, as well.
It’s Not Just The Unemployment Totals Digging An Economic Hole, It’s Delays In Benefits To Needy
Laid-off workers need money quickly so that they can continue to pay rent and credit card bills and buy groceries. But delays in benefits mean they’re going longer and longer without help. That in turn means the hole the economy has fallen into is getting “deeper and deeper, and more difficult to crawl out of.” Meanwhile, the surge of unemployed workers adds extra stress on Medicaid.
Media outlets report on news from Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, California, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The new federal Bureau of Prisons’ standard makes early release possible for inmates who served at least 25% of their sentence and have less than 18 months remaining on their term. Outbreak developments from a Virginia youth correctional center and Massachusetts, Missouri and Oklahoma prisons are also reported.
A New York Times reporter visits a campus in New York, home to scientists dubbed the ”Paul Reveres” of climate change, a threat, they say, that could cause far greater problems than the pandemic and requires vastly more funding. Other public health news is on mental health, celebrity pledges to wellness care, advanced directives, repercussions from the fear of going to the ER, testing homeless people, research on male vulnerability, the forgotten flu, vaping risks, unusual symptoms in seniors and more.
With the usual food distribution chain disrupted due to the coronavirus outbreak, farmers are plowing unused produce back into the field. Yet food banks struggle to feed millions of newly unemployed Americans. While a federal plan will throw $19 billion dollars at the problem, it must still overcome the transportation challenges that created it in the first place. Other food supply issues reports on the meat industry, food plant safety and alleged price gouging on eggs.
Pandemic Reveals Just How Startlingly Unprepared States Were In Stockpiling Supplies
“You could see it in almost every state, in every locality, and the federal government level: depleting the resources, depleting the inventory, and hoping when you need them they will be available,” said Gerard Anderson, a health policy professor at Johns Hopkins University. In other news, states turn to China for help with medical supplies. And a tip comes from an unusual source.
On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced that her oldest brother Donald Reed Herring died from COVID-19. On the same day, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took a moment to dedicate the latest relief package to her sister, who she said is dying in a hospital.
Almost Every Coronavirus Patient Hospitalized In NYC Had An Underlying Medical Condition
Hypertension and obesity were common risk factors found in the patients. The study also found that one in five of the hospital stays ended with the patient dying–though more than half of the patients studied were still hospitalized when the study ended. In other scientific news about the virus: smoking in the time of COVID-19, convalescent plasma, reinfection threat, and more.
The serological survey data that’s been trickling in over the past few days has been shocking–showing just how much the coronavirus has spread through mild or asymptomatic cases. While experts say that the tests are an important tool, the results shouldn’t be taken as gospel.
Hospitals Hit With One-Two Financial Punch Of High COVID-19 Costs And Canceled Procedures
“I think it’s fair to say that hospitals are facing perhaps the greatest challenge that they have ever faced in their history,” says Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association. Federal aid is being distributed to help needy health system, but some wonder if it will be enough. Meanwhile, some hospitals start inching toward resuming non-coronavirus procedures.
McConnell’s Suggestion That States Consider Bankruptcy Deemed ‘Really Dumb’ By Governors
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested that instead of the federal government helping states that are struggling financially beneath the burden of the outbreak that those states should instead declare bankruptcy. “That’s how you’re going to bring this national economy back?” asked an incredulous New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who called McConnell irresponsible and reckless. “You want to see that market fall through the cellar?” There is a growing consensus in Washington, though, that states will need more fiscal help.
Lawmakers Just Sent $484B Bill To Trump But They Are Already Gearing Up For Next Battle Royale
The fourth stimulus package was meant to supplement the depleted fund to help small businesses, but Democrats fought to include money for hospitals and expanded testing as well. This bill took longer to negotiate than the previous three, and it could be the last measure that gets through without an intense and public political fight.
