Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Preparations For Widespread Outbreak Of Coronavirus Can't Wait Any Longer; An Infodemic Is The Last Thing We Need From These Websites
The New York Times: How To Confront The Coronavirus At Every Level
Covid-19 cases in Washington State and California appear to show that the disease has begun to spread in those communities, at least. Its spread elsewhere in the country has yet to be determined. But developments with this disease, of which there have been more than 70 cases in the United States, change quickly. So the federal government, state and local governments, public health agencies, health care systems and industry should be preparing more actively to respond to a widespread outbreak of the virus. (Tom Inglesby and Anita Cicero, 3/2)
Stat: We Rated Websites Spreading Coronavirus Misinformation
The coronavirus has spawned an infodemic. That’s the World Health Organization’s term for the conspiracies, unsubstantiated claims, and phony cures surrounding the outbreak of Covid-19 that emerged in China at the tail end of 2019. The challenges to accurate information on the disease outbreak took center stage at this week’s White House press briefing when President Trump said that “the risk to the American people remains very low” despite the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention’s warning that the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is bound to spread more widely in the U.S. (John Gregory, 2/28)
The Washington Post: Trump Is Pushing A Dangerous, False Spin On Coronavirus — And The Media Is Helping Him Spread It
Among the many outlandish statements President Trump has made since taking office, one in particular stands out for me. Speaking in Kansas City, Mo., in the summer of 2018, he urged the attendees of the VFW annual convention to ignore the journalism of the mainstream media. “Just stick with us, don’t believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news,” he said. “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” (Margaret Sullivan, 3/1)
The Wall Street Journal: Private Health Care To The Rescue
Americans naturally turn to the government when their health or physical security is at risk, but a core U.S. strength is the breadth of its private medical resources. That’s on display now as the government is calling on private actors to buttress the federal response. ...The Bernie Sanders campaign is saying the virus shows how Medicare for All would better serve the country. The opposite is true. By putting government in charge of every health care decision, Medicare for All would eliminate the adaptability of private innovation, which is an American advantage. The Trump Administration is right to exploit it. (3/1)
CNN: Donald Trump Meets A New Enemy: Coronavirus
How bad will it get? That was the question this week, but it applied to several things: the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus around the world, the resulting stock market plunge and the concern about whether America's political leaders are up to the challenge. An outbreak of the disease is inevitable in the US, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters Tuesday: "It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but ... a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness." (Richard Galant, 3/1)
The New England Journal of Medicine: Covid-19 — Navigating The Uncharted
China, the United States, and several other countries have instituted temporary restrictions on travel with an eye toward slowing the spread of this new disease within China and throughout the rest of the world. ... However, given the efficiency of transmission as indicated in the current report, we should be prepared for Covid-19 to gain a foothold throughout the world, including in the United States. Community spread in the United States could require a shift from containment to mitigation strategies such as social distancing in order to reduce transmission. Such strategies could include isolating ill persons (including voluntary isolation at home), school closures, and telecommuting where possible. (Drs. Anthony S. Fauci, H. Clifford Lane and Robert R. Redfield, 2/28)
The New York Times: Here Comes The Coronavirus Pandemic
Back in 2002, when the SARS virus made its fateful leap from bats to civet cats to humans, global health experts warned that the ensuing outbreak was a harbinger of things to come: Climate change and globalization were conspiring with an array of other forces to make it much easier for old animal diseases to morph into new human ones. It was only a matter of time before one of those diseases proved truly catastrophic. The world could avert the worst consequences if it started planning. But SARS was quickly contained (in part because the virus itself was so deadly that it was easy to detect). The disease faded from public consciousness and, with it, any sense of urgency over future outbreaks. (2/29)
CNN: Trump Is Failing The Leadership Test On Coronavirus
Ranking high among the President's powers and responsibilities is the job of communicator in chief. In times of triumph and clear and present dangers, the public looks to the President for cues on how to act, what they should feel and what they should do. (Joe Lockhart, 2/29)
The New York Times: How To Be A Smart Coronavirus Prepper
The first case of “community transmitted” Covid-19 in the United States popped up just a few miles north of my home in San Francisco. That means the person who is sick with the new coronavirus has no known connection to China or travelers from there — she got it from someone in her local Northern California community. My community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the arrival of Covid-19 is “inevitable.” Because the disease has an incubation period of at least two weeks, I could be surrounded by the infected and not know. Hell, I could be infected. (Newitz, 2/29)
Bloomberg: Not Even Face Masks Can Shield Manufacturers
Industrial companies have to be feeling like they’re stuck in a Charlie Brown cartoon these days. Every time things start to look up, some nasty surprise swoops in and takes away their football. First, the trade war kneecapped a recovery off the oil-price downturn in 2015 and 2016 that was just starting to pick up steam. Now, the coronavirus threatens to derail a hoped-for rebound from the trade doldrums. (Brooke Sutherland, 2/28)
The New York Times: We Don’t Really Know How Many People Have Coronavirus
It has been nearly three months since the first cases of a new coronavirus pneumonia appeared in Wuhan, China, and it is now a global outbreak. And yet, despite over 80,000 infections worldwide (most of them in China), the world still doesn’t have a clear picture of some of the most basic information about this outbreak. In recent weeks, a smattering of scientific papers and government statements have begun to sketch the outlines of the epidemic. (Elisabeth Rosenthal, 2/28)
