Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Potentially Faulty Covid Test Also Widely Used In California
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Using Coronavirus Test That FDA Warns May Produce False Negatives
The coronavirus test being provided daily to tens of thousands of residents in Los Angeles and other parts of California may be producing inaccurate results, according to guidance from federal officials that could raise questions about the accuracy of infection data shaping the pandemic response. The guidance from the Food and Drug Administration warns healthcare providers and patients that the test made by Curative, a year-old start-up founded in Silicon Valley that supplies the oral swab tests at L.A.’s 10 drive-through testing sites, carries a “risk of false results, particularly false negative results.” (Lau and Nelson, 1/7)
Politico: HHS Working To Replace Potentially Faulty Covid Tests Used By Congress
The federal health department is working to provide alternative Covid testing for Congress after the Food and Drug Administration warned the test lawmakers have relied on is prone to false results, HHS testing czar Brett Giroir said Thursday. Accurate coronavirus testing for the House and Senate took on even greater importance Wednesday after waves of maskless pro-Trump rioters breached the Capitol building and forced lawmakers, staff and reporters to shelter in close quarters for hours. Several Democrats have said that some GOP members did not adequately adhere to mask wearing. (Lim, 1/7)
KHN: Do-It-Yourself Contact Tracing Is A ‘Last Resort’ In Communities Besieged By Covid
The contact tracers of Washtenaw County in Michigan have been deluged with work and, to cope, the overburdened health department has a new tactic: It is asking residents who test positive for covid-19 to do their own contact tracing. Washtenaw is a county of nearly 350,000 residents who live in and around the city of Ann Arbor, about 45 minutes from Detroit. Until mid-October, a county team of 15 contact tracers was managing the workload. But by Thanksgiving, more than 1,000 residents were testing positive for the coronavirus every week, and the tracers could not keep pace. (Dahlberg, 1/8)
In other public health news —
San Francisco Chronicle: Zoom Face And Stealth Recovery: Plastic Surgery Booming Amid Pandemic
For months during the pandemic, Bay Area professionals have been working from home, connecting over Zoom, and deciding they don’t like what they see. It’s not their colleagues they’re objecting to, but their own faces — double chins, brow furrows and hooded eyelids. And they’re doing something about it, in droves. “I’ve never seen so many people want to have facial surgery at the same time, and so urgently, in my 20 years in practice,” said Dr. Carolyn Chang, a San Francisco cosmetic plastic surgeon who specializes in faces and breasts. (Zinko, 1/6)
The Washington Post: Home-Fitness Gear Surges During Pandemic
Health and fitness equipment revenue more than doubled, to $2.3 billion, from March to October, according to NPD retail data. Sales of treadmills soared 135 percent while those of stationary bikes nearly tripled, depleting inventories. (Shaban, 1/7)
