Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Texas Emergency Coordinator Knew Better Than To Believe Trump's 'We Have It Totally Under Control'
The Washington Post: How Local Officials Scrambled To Protect Themselves Against The Coronavirus
As a mysterious respiratory illness tore through China and other countries in mid-January, Kyle Coleman, an emergency management coordinator in Texas, took inventory of his team’s personal protective gear at a warehouse in Bexar County. The hazmat suits and gloves were in good condition. Some of the respirator masks had expired. Three pallets of hand sanitizer seemed like enough because they seldom used more than one pallet a year. Over several weeks in January, Coleman followed the outbreak of the novel coronavirus: the first death reported in China on Jan. 11, the spread to Thailand and Japan, and then the first U.S. case in Washington state confirmed on Jan. 21.The next day, President Trump, in an interview on CNBC, assured the public: “We have it totally under control.” (Dungca, Abelson and Sullivan, 3/29)
Reuters: New Orleans Doctors Scramble As Coronavirus Deaths, Cases Soar
Emergency room doctor Thomas Krajewski stopped at the hospital room door at 2 a.m. to glance at the chart. He knew instantly the long odds faced by the patient inside: A man in his 70s, with a fever, short of breath. “Do you mind calling my son?” the patient asked him. “My two grandsons tomorrow morning are going to crawl in my bed because they wake me up on the weekends, and if I’m not there, they will wonder.” Twelve hours later, the man needed a ventilator. After a day, his kidneys started to fail. In three days, he was dead - one of 151 people who had succumbed to COVID-19 in Louisiana by late Sunday. (Brooks, 3/30)
The New York Times: Some U.S. Cities Could Have Coronavirus Outbreaks Worse Than Wuhan’s
If the rate of growth in coronavirus cases in the New York metro area continues, it will suffer a more severe outbreak than those experienced in Wuhan, China, or the Lombardy region of Italy. There is no guarantee, of course, that current trends will continue. What has happened to this point can’t be used to predict what will happen next. It is possible that social distancing will soon slow or arrest the growth of cases. (Cohn, Katz, Sanger-Katz and Quealy, 3/27)
Politico: Two Better Ways To Chart The Spread Of COVID-19
With cases of coronavirus surging around the world, regular people and policymakers alike want to know: Where are the new hotspots? And which countries are doing the best job in controlling outbreaks? Many coronavirus trackers focus on the total number of cases. But viruses spread exponentially, which can quickly balloon the number of infections from a few dozen to hundreds or thousands within days, making it harder to compare countries in different stages of outbreak. Is there a better way? (Jin, 3/27)
The Associated Press: Hundreds At Louisiana Church Flout COVID-19 Gatherings Ban
Hundreds of worshippers attended services at a Louisiana church on Sunday, flouting a ban on large gatherings, angering neighbors and seemingly turning a deaf ear to their governor, who once again warned that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed with new cases of the coronavirus. An estimated 500 people of all ages filed inside the mustard-yellow and beige Life Tabernacle church in Central, a city of nearly 29,000 outside Baton Rouge. (Plaisance, 3/29)
The New York Times: A City Hunkered Down To Survive An Outbreak. That Helped In A Tornado, Too.
Some in Jonesboro, Ark., saw a miracle on Saturday after a tornado roared through town. It tore through businesses already closed by the coronavirus and neighborhoods where people had already been told to social distance by hunkering down at home. Not a soul died. Now comes the really hard part: rebuilding and moving on together while officials still urge residents to stay apart. The tornado gashed a scar of devastation that stretched on for more than four miles, scraping through the heart of the city’s commercial district, destroying hangars at the municipal airport and pulverizing homes in several subdivisions. (Rojas and Swales, 3/29)
The Wall Street Journal: Ohio Governor On Why He Ordered Early, Tough Coronavirus Lockdowns
Ohio had yet to report a single case of Covid-19 in early March when Gov. Mike DeWine faced a wrenching decision. The Arnold Sports Festival, an annual weightlifting extravaganza and expo in Columbus, Ohio, was set to open. But with some 60,000 spectators a day for four days rubbing elbows with 20,000 athletes from 80 countries, local health officials were raising alarms. On March 5, after resistance from festival organizers, the state got a court order to shut down the expo expected to start that day. It lost out on much of the $53 million in economic activity expected from the event. (Barrett, 3/29)
KQED: Newsom's Eviction Moratorium 'Useless, Misleading' Tenants Groups Say
Tenants rights groups and some lawmakers are blasting a new executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom that purports to suspend evictions statewide, calling it useless and misleading. Newsom announced the moratorium on Friday, saying it would provide relief to tenants who have been laid off, furloughed or seen their hours slashed while the state grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. (Baldassari and Solomon, 3/27)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Patients In California's ICU Beds Double Overnight
The number of coronavirus patients in California’s intensive care unit beds doubled overnight, rising from 200 on Friday to 410 on Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. The number of hospitalized patients testing positive for the coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease known as COVID-19 rose by 38.6% — from 746 on Friday to 1,034 on Saturday, Newsom said. (Luna, Lin and Greene, 3/28)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: California Cases Top 5,000, Hospitals Fill Up
Los Angeles County recorded five more coronavirus deaths on Sunday, bringing the total to 37 as the virus continued to spread. The county now has 2,100 total confirmed cases, including more than 300 reported on Sunday. More cases and deaths were reported across California, with officials warning the numbers will spike in the coming weeks. (3/29)
KQED: Bay Area Hospitals Shift Workforce To Free Doctors For Coronavirus Duty
At the same time hospitals in California are racing to secure more beds, ventilators, and masks to care for a surge of coronavirus patients, they are also scrambling to prepare — and preserve — their workforce so they don’t run out of doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists, too. With health care workers among those most likely to become sick and need weeks off from work to recover or be quarantined, hospital and government officials are calling older doctors out of retirement, asking part-time staff to go full time, and moving surgeons and anesthesiologists out of the operating room and into the intensive care unit and the emergency room. (Dembosky, 3/28)
WBUR: As Pandemic Worsens, Mass. High Court Hearing Could Spur Correctional Facilities To Release More Prisoners
Some Massachusetts sheriffs say they are already considering whether some prisoners can be released to stem the spread of COVID-19 in correctional facilities, ahead of a hearing next week asking the state to quickly start reducing incarceration. A spokesman for Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings says 100 fewer men are incarcerated there now compared to a year ago. There are two housing units in the jail dedicated to COVID-19. As of Friday there were no reports of positive coronavirus tests in Barnstable. (Becker, 3/27)
The New York Times: Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, And Coronavirus Fears, Too
As Liberty University’s spring break was drawing to a close this month, Jerry Falwell Jr., its president, spoke with the physician who runs Liberty’s student health service about the rampaging coronavirus. “We’ve lost the ability to corral this thing,” Dr. Thomas W. Eppes Jr. said he told Mr. Falwell. But he did not urge him to close the school. “I just am not going to be so presumptuous as to say, ‘This is what you should do and this is what you shouldn’t do,’” Dr. Eppes said in an interview. (Williamson, 3/29)
WBUR: Crisis Hotlines See Spike In Calls As Anxiety And Fear About Pandemic Grows
The combination of economic collapse and social isolation can result in stress and strained emotional health. Crisis hotlines are staffing up amid spikes in calls. (Noguchi, 3/29)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Church At The Drive-In: How One Pa. Religious Community Is Adapting To The Coronavirus
To say amen, just honk your horn and flash your lights.That’s what hundreds of worshipers did in Cumberland County on Sunday morning. The Big Spring Inter-church Council brought together congregations from the Harrisburg-Carlisle area for church at Cumberland Drive-In Theatre. (Bryant and Owens, 3/29)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania Adjusts Dental Restrictions To Allow Emergency Procedures
Pennsylvania adjusted its restrictions on dental work after dentists said that too-strict rules prevented them from performing even emergency procedures. Now, patients experiencing an emergency, such as an abscess or infection, can call their dentist for a phone evaluation, and will be asked to come in for treatment if necessary. (Gantz, 3/27)
The Washington Post: Washington Region’s Coronavirus Death Toll Hits 51, A Record 16 Fatalities Reported In One Day
The Washington region reported its single-deadliest day in the coronavirus outbreak, with 16 fatalities announced Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths to 51. Outbreaks at nursing homes and eldercare facilities in Virginia and Maryland contributed to the spike, with Maryland also reporting its largest single-day increase in known infections with 246 new cases, by The Washington Post’s count. (Swenson, Tan and Vozzella, 3/29)
Patch: VA Pastor, Musician Dies From Coronavirus He Had Questioned
A 66-year-old Virginia resident who fell ill with the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, on a trip to New Orleans died Wednesday morning at a hospital in Concord, North Carolina. The death of Landon Spradlin, an accomplished musician and a pastor, has drawn viral attention online, in part because earlier this month Spradlin questioned whether media coverage of the disease was overblown. Spradlin lived in Gretna, a small town in Pittsylvania County, about halfway between Lynchburg and Danville. (Hand, 3/26)
