Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
States Push Against Mask Mandates For Schools And Sports
WLRN 91.3 FM: Florida Education Chief: Masks Should Be Voluntary In Schools
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran on Wednesday asked school superintendents to revise their school district’s mask policy, if they have one, to be voluntary instead of mandatory for the 2021-22 school year. In a memo, Corcoran bolded and underlined reasons that he says are why districts should make masks voluntary. (4/15)
AP: High School League Seeks Relief From Masks In Outdoor Sports
The Minnesota State High School League board asked state health officials Thursday to allow spring sports athletes to compete outdoors without wearing masks. The recommendation by the league’s sports medicine advisory committee applies only to actual competition. Athletes would be required to wear masks during breaks such as before and after races and while sitting in the dugout or standing on the sidelines. (4/15)
Scientific American: Schools Can Open Safely During COVID, The Latest Evidence Shows
Now, more than a year after schools around the country first shut down, many experts agree they can remain open safely if they implement measures such as mask wearing, physical distancing and good ventilation. Studies of school districts in states such as Florida, Utah and Missouri found that in-person instruction did not lead to a noticeable spike in COVID cases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated its guidelines to say that three feet of distancing (as opposed to the six feet recommended earlier) is sufficient to limit transmission among elementary school children—and among middle and high school kids when community transmission levels are low—as long as masks are worn. The guidelines also emphasize the importance of universal mask wearing and good ventilation and recommend having “cohorts” of students that spend the day together and maintain distance from other cohorts. (Lewis, 4/15)
In other public health news —
Axios: CDC: 4 In 10 Transgender Women In Major U.S. Cities Have HIV
Transgender women in the U.S. are contracting HIV at extremely high rates, as they face poverty, discrimination, and gaps in gender-affirming medical treatment, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds. Two-thirds of Black trans women and more than one-third of Hispanic trans women surveyed across seven major cities have HIV, in what the CDC called one of the most comprehensive surveys of trans women in the U.S. (Rummier, 4/15)
PBS NewsHour: New Poll Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Oppose Anti-Transgender Laws
The rights of transgender Americans has been a growing topic of debate on sports fields, in state capitols and in Congress. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, says more than 30 state legislatures have proposed more than 115 bills that would limit transgender rights, from participation on sports teams to access to medical care. But two-thirds of Americans are against laws that would limit transgender rights, a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll found. That opposition includes majorities of every political ideology from liberal to conservative and every age group. (Loffman, 4/16)
KHN: Pandemic Highlights Need For Urgent Care Clinics For Women
Last spring, only weeks into the pandemic, Christina Garcia was spending her days struggling to help her two young sons adjust to online schooling when she got such a heavy, painful period she could barely stand. After a few days, her vision began to blur and she found herself too weak to open a jar. Garcia’s regular OB/GYN — like most medical offices at the time — was closed, and she was terrified by the prospect of spending hours waiting in an emergency room shoulder to shoulder with people who might have covid. (Scheier, 4/16)
KHN: Ask KHN-PolitiFact: I’ve Recovered From Covid. Why Do I Still Have To Mask Up?
More than 120 million Americans have joined arguably the most sought-after club on Earth: those immunized against the coronavirus. Fully vaccinated people were given the green light in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to gather with other fully vaccinated people or with low-risk unvaccinated people from one other household without a mask and, earlier this month, to travel without quarantining afterward. (As reports of state and local case surges mount, the CDC is increasingly urging caution.) But what about all the people — a number impossible to count, though estimated to be in the millions — who now possess some degree of immunity because they recovered from covid-19? (Heredia Rodriguez, 4/16)
