Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Assailed Over Tweet About 'Fake' COVID Ward In Nevada
The Hill: Nevada Governor: 'Unconscionable' For Trump To Suggest Reno's COVID-19 Surge Unit 'Fake'
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) on Tuesday issued a scathing statement after President Trump suggested in a tweet that a Reno hospital’s overflow coronavirus unit in a parking garage was “fake.” Trump retweeted an account called NetworkinVegas.com, which claimed that the picture of a doctor inside the hospital setup was “fake” because patients were not visible and unused beds were in the background. (Gstalter, 12/1)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Reno Doctor Refutes Trump Claim That Photo Of COVID Unit Was Fake
A Reno critical-care physician on Tuesday refuted President Donald Trump’s claim that a photograph the doctor tweeted and remarks he made about treating dying coronavirus patients were “fake.” “It is not fake. It is very real,” ICU doctor Jacob Keeperman said of the photograph of himself wearing a surgical gown and mask after working his first week in the COVID ICU. The photo showed him standing in a parking garage that Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno converted into a medical unit for COVID-19 patients in mid-November because of rising coronavirus caseloads. (Saunders, 12/1)
Modern Healthcare: Renown Health CEO Responds To Trump Tweet Questioning COVID-19 Surge
The CEO of Reno-based Renown Health is speaking out against a tweet President Donald Trump posted Tuesday claiming the COVID-19 surge the health system is experiencing is exaggerated. Trump shared a tweet from an events website called Network in Vegas claiming that a parking garage Renown Health has transformed to an alternative care site for COVID-19 patients is "fake" and isn't treating any patients. Trump retweeted the caption with the comment: "Fake election results in Nevada, also." The tweet occurred as Nevada and the city of Reno experience a surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations. According to the state, for the week of Nov. 20, COVID-19 cases grew at a rate of 1.5%, or 1,854 new cases per day. The positivity rate over the 14-day period was 15.8%. (Castellucci, 12/1)
Reno Gazette Journal: Renown Says It Has 42 COVID Patients In Garage After Trump Retweets Lie About Hospital
Renown Health confirmed on Tuesday morning that it is providing care to COVID-19 patients at its alternative care site inside a parking garage just hours after President Donald Trump shared a tweet that called the deployable medical structure “a scam.” A Renown representative told the Reno Gazette Journal that it has 42 patients receiving care at the parking garage site. The patients are recovering and do not require critical care. (Hidalgo, 12/1)
In related news —
The Hill: Parscale Says Trump Should Have Been More Empathetic On Coronavirus
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale says that President Trump’s biggest policy error ahead of the 2020 election was showing a lack of public empathy about the novel coronavirus. “People were scared,” Parscale said in an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum that aired Tuesday evening. “I think if he would have been publicly empathetic, he would have won by a landslide there. He could have leaned into it instead of run away from it.” (Chalfant, 12/1)
The Hill: Atlas Departure From White House Cheered By Public Health Officials
The exit of Scott Atlas from the White House coronavirus response task force comes at the pandemic’s worst point, with 170,000 new cases reported every day and deaths and hospitalizations increasing with no signs of stopping. It’s a departure being cheered by many in the public health world, who saw Atlas’s advice to the president as dangerous and anti-science. (Samuels and Hellmann, 12/1)
The New York Times: It’s Holiday Party Season At The White House. Masks Are Encouraged, But Not Required.
The red and gold party invitations make no mention of the coronavirus, nor do they acknowledge the holiday message that public health officials have been trying to emphasize to Americans: Stay home. Instead, the invitations are the latest example of how President Trump is spending his final weeks in office operating in an alternative universe, denying the realities of life during the pandemic. (Karni, 12/1)
