Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘This Is Ludicrous’: Governors Frustrated With Lack Of National Ventilator Distribution Strategy
States have been forced to compete with each other to get ventilators and other medical supplies after the federal government put most of the onus on the governors to acquire equipment. While some governors try to avoid being too critical of the Trump administration, others expressed their frustration. “To say, ‘we’re a backup’ — I mean, the surgeon general alluded to Pearl Harbor,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. “Can you imagine if Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘I’ll be right behind you, Connecticut. Good luck building those battleships’?”
Top Health Officials Say Americans Should Brace For Tragedy This Week On Par With Pearl Harbor, 9/11
Even as President Donald Trump offered a more optimistic stance, his officials warned that this week will be tough for Americans. “This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly,” said Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Meanwhile, experts fear that the number of confirmed cases in the country–which has exceeded 330,000–is only a fraction of the cases out there.
The Washington Post investigates government and White House actions during the first two months of the year when top officials knew about the threat but the country failed to rise to meet it. And AP looks at how that critical time was squandered in terms of stocking up on equipment. Meanwhile, health care was already a losing issue for President Donald Trump and Republicans, and this pandemic highlights that vulnerability.
Viewpoints: FDA Needs To Step Up Pace For COVID-19 Treatments; Pros, Cons Of Wearing Masks
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care issues stemming from the pandemic and others.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these pandemic topics and others.
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Federal investigators sent a letter to Life Care Center of Kirkland in Seattle saying it could also lose federal funding for violating guidelines to reduce the spread of disease in the nation’s first-known outbreak. One nurse reported concerns as early as Feb. 12 about a fast spreading respiratory illness, but administrators thought it was the flu. Nursing home news is also from New York.
Although the record-breaking number of unemployment claims for last week–6.6. million–were a stark reality check, there’s many who remain uncounted. Some have lost jobs or income did not initially qualify for benefits, and others, encountering state unemployment offices that were overwhelmed by the deluge of claimants, were unsuccessful in filing.
HHS Waives HIPPA Privacy Rules On Data In Order To Speed Communication About Infected Patients
“The CDC, CMS, and state and local health departments need quick access to COVID-19 related health data to fight this pandemic,” said Roger Severino, director of HHS Office For Civil Rights. Other news on technology looks at how tech giants are seeking “opportunistic” changes.
As unemployment surges, Medicaid will likely see a reflective wave of new enrollees. But hefty investments into the program will be needed to absorb those extra costs. “You definitely see in the data that as unemployment goes up, the Medicaid rolls go up,” said Josh Bivens, of the Economic Policy Institute. “That’s good, and it’s supposed to happen: It’s a safety net. But this is a quick enough shock that it could be a huge financial burden on Medicaid systems across the states.”
Doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists are leaving their states to help Tulane Medical Center and other Louisiana hospitals, but red tape is slowing the relief effort. “I literally could have arranged a trip to West Africa and been in a hospital over there in the time that it’s taken me to do this in the United States,” said Dr. James Pettey, an orthopedic surgeon from Kentucky. Media outlets report on news from California, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia and District of Columbia, as well.
Rush To Find Rooms, Care For Homeless: LA, Seattle Scramble To Protect Most Vulnerable
Advocates say relocating the nation’s estimated 560,000 homeless people to indoor shelters will connect them to health care services key to detecting and combating outbreaks. In Los Angeles, officials install hand-washing stations and try to spread the word about social distancing to people who are used to sharing. Other public health news is on easing blood-donation restrictions for gay men, disruptions in cancer treatments, primer on coronavirus vs. other ailments, mental health, and tracing how travelers quickly spread the virus, as well.
Getting goods to consumers is a complicated process that is impacting truck drivers around the world. In some states, there’s no place open to find a meal or spend the night. In other countries, long wait times at borders and public system changes delay deliveries. But one things clear: fewer drivers on the roads makes some trips faster. News on the supply chain is also on delays in shipments of fruits, controversial hiring of seasonal workers, infected Amazon facilities and an oversupply of milk, as well.
While there’s no approved treatment for the coronavirus, patients are still receiving medication to ease some of the symptoms, such as medications used to keep airways open. With the surge in demand, those drugs could be the next fronts of the shortages war.
New York state and New York City in particular have emerged as the epicenter of the outbreak in the country. The sharp rise in demand for medical equipment to deal with the crisis has forced state officials to pay about 15 times the usual price for some things. Meanwhile, state lawmakers want to protect doctors who are on the front lines of the pandemic from criminal suits.
A Deep Dive Into The Novel Coronavirus
The New York Times unravels the “bad news wrapped up in protein” to show what’s going on at a cellular level. In other science and innovation news: a glossary of terms, what exponential really means, smoking and its link to the virus, and more.
Democratic National Convention Postponed In Biggest Disruption Yet To The 2020 Elections
The presidential nominating convention, which was pushed from July to August, is expected to draw as many as 50,000 people. Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden had called for the gathering to be postponed. Meanwhile, Wisconsin moves ahead with its primary next Tuesday, angering some voters in the state.
Pinprick Blood Test To Identify Antibodies In Patients Approved By FDA
The blood tests are important for a variety of reasons, including the fact that those with antibodies might be able to act as the first wave of people to re-start the economy. In other treatment news: an unproven stem cell therapy gets the green light, an oral antiviral spray shows promise to protect health workers, experts warn there’s no “magic pill” to cure the virus, and the man behind a cocktail of drugs that’s been criticized as giving Americans false hope.
Amid sweeping efforts to get Americans to stay at home to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Google will offer the government a report of how foot traffic has increased or declined to six types of destinations: homes, workplaces, retail and recreation establishments, parks, grocery stores and pharmacies, and transit stations. In other news on social distancing measures: Dr. Anthony Fauci wants every state to institute a stay-at-home order; public compliance soars; projections show where the next hotspots may emerge; places that defy state orders mapped; historical data reveals cities that social distance emerge stronger economically in the long run; and more.
