Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
San Francisco Bans Tobacco Smoking Inside Apartments
AP: San Francisco Bans Smoking Inside Apartments; Pot Smoking OK
City officials in San Francisco have banned all tobacco smoking inside apartments, citing concerns about secondhand smoke. But lighting up a joint inside? That’s still allowed. The Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 Tuesday to approve the ordinance making San Francisco the largest city in the country to ban tobacco smoking inside apartments, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. (12/2)
In other news —
The Oklahoman: Mustang High School To Pilot In-School Quarantine
Oklahoma’s first students to attempt in-school quarantine could start this month at Mustang High School. Mustang Public Schools will become the first school district in the state to implement in-school quarantine by piloting the program at its high school. Other districts in Oklahoma are permitted to try similar programs until Dec. 23, as long as they meet specified criteria. Any district that approves in-school quarantine must have a designated room large enough to fit all participating students and staff spaced at least 6 feet apart. They must wear masks at all times while doing online classwork. (Martinez-Keel, 12/3)
Burlington Free Press: Vermont Officials Urge Retesting For People Whose COVID-19 Tests In Barre Were Spoiled
Vermont health officials are urging people who were tested for COVID-19 at the Barre Auditorium on Nov. 27 to get retested. Almost 250 tests taken that day were spoiled and could not be analyzed because of an error by the shipping company that was transporting the tests to a lab in Massachusetts. Analysis of the tests was delayed and thus could not be properly processed, the Vermont Health Department said. The Health Department said the test samples of people being retested because of this error will be expedited for processing and results. (Murray, 12/2)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Auditor General Confirms Botched Coronavirus Efforts At Veterans’ Nursing Home, Calls On Gov. Wolf To Finish Investigation
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Wednesday released a new report on deficiencies at the Southeastern Veterans’ Center — where at least 42 people died of COVID-19 — and called on Gov. Tom Wolf to release the results of an investigation into how the state-run nursing home handled the coronavirus. The report confirms the key findings of Inquirer investigations in April and May, which reported the 238-bed home in Chester County had taken a lax approach to the pandemic, with supervisors discouraging nurses and aides from wearing masks to avoid frightening the service veterans. (Bender, 12/2)
Also —
The New York Times: Women In ‘Birth Tourism’ Ring Had 119 Babies On Long Island, Officials Say
The Facebook post advertised a tantalizing offer for pregnant women in Turkey. “If you believe your baby should be born in the USA and become an American citizen,” the ad said in Turkish, “then you are at the right place.” In exchange for payments between $7,500 and $10,000 each, the women received transportation, medical care and lodging at a so-called birth house on Long Island, federal prosecutors said — allowing them to travel to New York on tourist visas and return to Turkey with babies who were American citizens. (Hong and Dollinger, 12/2)
