Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘MacGyver It’: Nursing Home Directors Get Creative To Protect Vulnerable Residents
Dr. Mark Gloth, chief medical officer for one of the industry’s largest nursing home chains asked himself: “‘Why can’t we MacGyver it and put something together that will actually provide an additional level of support for our patients and employees?'” One such plan includes walling off part of a facility with heavy duty plastic to create an isolation area for those who get COVID-19. Other industry news comes from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas and Ohio.
Hospitals and states are scrambling for ways to help their overworked staff deal with an onslaught of patients. But having an influx of providers who don’t have as much experience might cause stress for workers. Meanwhile, the threat of contracting the virus looms large for many health care providers.
All Sailors Aboard Aircraft Carrier Will Be Tested Following Sharp Increase In Coronavirus Cases
The USS Theodore Roosevelt will remain “operationally capable,” but it has been diverted to Guam so that all 5,000 sailors can be tested.
As Georgia struggles with one of the highest COVID-19 death rates among the states, public health officials and the state’s largest daily newspaper, have pleaded for Gov. Brian Kemp to take stronger action. Governors in at least 20 states — both Democrats and Republicans — have ordered residents statewide to stay at home. State, U.S territory and tribal news is also from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Louisiana, Navajo Nation, Texas, Massachusetts, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as well.
Grocery Stores Install Plastic Shields In Checkout Lines To Protect Cashiers, Customers
A shopper at a Stop & Shop in Quincy, Massachusetts hailed the idea that’s been cropping up across the country: “We’re supposed to be 6 feet away, but we’re closer to them. So that protection helps, and I feel safer.” News on the food supply also looks at how stressful grocery shopping has become, the high cost of allegedly intentionally coughing on groceries and infection at Amazon’s largest warehouse.
Many advocates worry that COVID-19 could run rampant through the immigration detention facilities throughout the country, which had been facing criticism even before the outbreak about about detainees’ safety. Meanwhile, a federal judge orders the immediate release of 10 detainees from a New Jersey facility.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tests Positive For Coronavirus: ‘Together We Will Beat This’
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he was tested after developing mild symptoms and will still be working from self-isolation. Johnson is the first world leader to confirm a positive diagnosis.
Many Afghanistan residents are defying orders not to congregate during their holiday celebrations raising fears among government officials that the spread of the virus could create numbers of cases like those seen in Wuhan. “The nature of this society is a very close physical one,” said a migration official. “People touch one another a lot; they live in multigenerational families.” More global news comes from France, Italy, Japan, India, and China, as well.
Researchers Investigate If COVID-19 Can Pass To A Fetus In The Womb
The cases of three infected newborns raise concerns that the virus can be transmitted during pregnancy, but studies are still early. “Is it possible that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted in utero? Yes, especially because virus nucleic acid has been detected in blood samples” from newborns, David Kimberlin and Sergio Stagno of the University of Alabama at Birmingham wrote. “Is it also possible that these results are erroneous? Absolutely.”
New York City Hospitals Reckon With Onslaught Of Patients In Heart Of Country’s Outbreak
Media outlets go inside the overwhelmed emergency departments at New York City hospitals to show what doctors and other providers are dealing with day in and day out. “I have so many different fears,” said Dr. Sylvie de Souza. “That’s all we can do: just pray, stick together, encourage each other, not get paralyzed by fear.” Meanwhile, across the country, California is carefully watching how New York City handles the surge, with expectations that the Golden State will see a similar number of cases in coming days and weeks.
The practice of injecting current patients with past patients’ blood is a century-old. But it doesn’t always prove successful.
The study shows the importance of doing carefully controlled research despite increasing anxiety over finding a treatment. Scientists say that doesn’t mean the malaria drug doesn’t work, but that people shouldn’t be looking at it as a magical cure. Meanwhile, a conservative business group founded by a prolific Republican political donor is pressuring the White House to greenlight the treatment anyway.
Health Law Expected To Act As Crucial Safety Net Amid Pandemic. Will That Finally Sway Its Doubters?
Millions of Americans have lost jobs and potentially the health care coverage that went along with them. The Affordable Care Act may serve as a crucial safety net to the country during this turbulent time. While the Trump administration has chipped away at the health law over the years, it might need to adjust its mentality and support the very thing it railed against. In other news on the economic toll of the outbreak: a look at how the recession is just getting started, how the stimulus package won’t mitigate all of the damage, a movement to get older Americans to work in the name of “patriotism,” and more.
President Donald Trump has signaled his determination to reopen parts of the country in recent days, and the latest proposal would involve a targeted approach that would rely heavily on testing, which has been a weak spot for the country. But public health experts warn against lifting physical distancing restrictions, even in places that haven’t had a surge of cases yet.
There’s A Stockpile Of Nearly 1.5M Masks In A Government Warehouse, But They’re Expired
Government officials decided to offer the respirators to TSA, an agency whose workers have been hit hard by the outbreak. There are no plans to send them to hospitals who have been desperately asking for protective gear for their health care providers. Meanwhile, health care workers are resorting to making hand-sewn masks that do little to protect them from the coronavirus.
The White House had been planning to announce a venture that would lead to the production of as many as 80,000 ventilators. Then the bill came. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he didn’t believe hospitals need as many ventilators as they say they do, even as New York approved a risky policy of sharing the equipment between patients and New Jersey starts making plans on how to ration care.
While the pinprick blood test would solve the time and shortages issues that are hobbling the traditional method, some scientists say it’s unclear if the rapid tests provide accurate results. Public health experts have been adamant that efficient and wide-spread testing is crucial in the fight against the pandemic, but the U.S. stumbled in rolling out its testing response.
U.S. Surpasses China In Number Of Coronavirus Cases To Become Epicenter Of Pandemic
Nearly 86,000 cases have been confirmed in the United States as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins’ data tracker, including 1,300 deaths. China had previously been leading the world in number of cases, but the United States passed that total on Thursday.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Research Roundup: Medicaid Eligibility, ICU Infection Rates, Heartburn Drugs’ Side Effects, And More
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
