Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Racism Has 'Undeniable' Impact On Health Disparities, Fauci Says
AP: Fauci Says Pandemic Exposed 'Undeniable Effects Of Racism'
The immunologist who leads the COVID-19 response in the United States said Sunday that “the undeniable effects of racism” have led to unacceptable health disparities that especially hurt African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans during the pandemic. “COVID-19 has shone a bright light on our own society’s failings,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a graduation ceremony for Emory University. (5/16)
In updates on the spread of the coronavirus —
Politico: Desperate For Treatment, Covid 'Long Haulers' Push For 9/11-Style Health Registry
State and federal lawmakers, with the support of unions, are looking to survivor registries created after 9/11 as a model for helping potentially millions of people with often-debilitating long-term symptoms of Covid-19. The efforts would center on creating data troves that so-called “long-haulers” could access to make informed decisions about their care, allow medical providers to study the coronavirus’ still-mysterious long-term effects on the body, and help them qualify for state or federal benefits. (Ollstein and Goldberg, 5/16)
CBS 13: Coronavirus Variant First Found In India Discovered In Maine
A coronavirus variant first detected in India has been discovered in Maine. Only one case of the B.1.617.2 variant has been found so far in York County, the Maine CDC said. While health officials here consider it a ‘variant of interest’, Public Health England recently reclassified B.1.617.2 as a ‘variant of concern’ because it has an estimated rate of transmissibility at least as high as that of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant. In late March, the National Institutes of Health said the UK variant likely accounted for at least one-third of all cases in the U.S. at the time. (5/16)
Fox News: Most Kids With Coronavirus Do Not Develop Fever, Study Finds
More than a year into the coronavirus pandemic, most are well aware that the symptoms of a COVID-19 infection often include fever, cough and shortness of breath. But the same may not be true for one group of people: children. A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports this week found that most children who contract the virus do not develop fever. The study, published Thursday, found that the vast majority — about 81% — of the more than 12,000 children with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infections who were a part of the study did not develop fever. Meanwhile, nearly 75% of the children "did not have any of the typical COVID-19 symptoms" such as cough or shortness of breath, the researchers added. (Farber, 5/15)
Also —
ABC News: Ceremony Honors COVID-19 Patients Who Died At Southern California Hospital
Under the orange glow of a Southern California evening, the doctors, and nurses at Providence St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, California, stand in their blue scrubs and white coats, holding tiny white boxes. In those boxes, butterflies representing all the victims of COVID-19 who have died at this hospital in the past year. "The spirit of the butterflies and the spirit of our loved ones take flight amongst us," said one of the speakers at the ceremony. (Stone and Schneider, 5/16)
Bloomberg: Covid Is Airborne, Scientists Say. Now Authorities Think So, Too
A quiet revolution has permeated global health circles. Authorities have come to accept what many researchers have argued for over a year: The coronavirus can spread through the air. That new acceptance, by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes with concrete implications: Scientists are calling for ventilation systems to be overhauled like public water supplies were in the 1800s after fetid pipes were found to harbor cholera. (Gale, 5/16)
KHN: Watch: Elisabeth Rosenthal On The Covid-19 Infodemic And The Media
Jon Greenberg interviewed Elisabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of KHN; Shefali Luthra, health and gender reporter at The 19th; and Derek Thompson, staff writer for The Atlantic, about covid-19 misinformation during PolitiFact’s United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking. The journalists discussed the challenging environment for news and facts that grew out of the pandemic. One major issue was that Americans simply were not used to the idea that infectious diseases could cause mass disaster, Rosenthal said. That mentality, combined with misinformation spread by then-President Donald Trump, made it easy for lies about the virus to perpetuate. (5/17)
