Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Find Smart, Safe Ways Around Lockdowns; Lessons On Changes For Higher Ed From COVID
Stat: Instead Of Lockdowns, Teach People How To Socialize Safely
In response to the rising Covid-19 death toll and case counts in the U.S., calls for a national lockdown have been escalating. In an open letter to America’s decision-makers, more than 150 medical professionals urge them to “shut it down now, and start over.” In the letter, they argue that people should “stay home, going out only to get food and medicine or to exercise and get fresh air. ”I empathize with the urgency in their plea for people to stay home. I felt helpless watching patient after patient die from Covid-19 while working in a New York hospital in April. In the Northern California Covid-19 clinic I work in, I continue to see patients infected with and harmed by the virus. I, too, am desperate for this pandemic to end. But I believe that telling people to stay home and avoid all nonessential social interactions is the wrong way forward. (Jason Bae, 8/13)
Bloomberg: Why Young Adults Are Driving Europe’s Coronavirus Curve
In parts of Europe, new coronavirus cases have been creeping up again. While this is by no means a second wave, and case numbers are still lower than they were before, an interesting demographic pattern has started to emerge.Whereas elderly populations had the greatest share of new cases early in the crisis, younger age groups are now taking the lead. People aged between 20 and 39 account for about 35% to 40% of new cases in England, Belgium and the Netherlands. In Spain, 15- to 29-year-olds account for more than a fifth of new cases. The charts below illustrate the shift, using the date that bars and pubs reopened in each country as the dividing line for gauging how things evolved as restrictions were lifted. (Lara Williams, 8/13)
The Washington Post: Thanks To Coronavirus And Zoom, We’re Looking At The End Stages Of College As A Commodity
A pandemic is an essentializing force; it strips away the frosting of rhetoric and habit and forces us to confront bare realities. Nowhere is this more apparent than in higher education, which over the past few decades has been one of two sectors that have just kept increasing their prices, the share of national income and, of course, the share of our attention they claim. The other one is health care, and in both cases, Americans justified the increased spending in contradictory ways — invoking both pragmatic benefits and airy ideals such as “scholarship” or “caring,” which denied the necessity of even appealing to necessity. (Megan McArdle, 8/12)
Stat: We Need New Drugs To Prevent The Looming Superbug Crisis
Imagine if scientists had seen Covid-19 coming years in advance yet did little to prepare. Unthinkable, right? Yet that’s exactly what’s happening with another infectious disease crisis — the one caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi. So-called superbugs already kill more than 700,000 people each year. And the World Health Organization warns that by 2050 the annual death toll could reach 10 million if we don’t use the time to get prepared. (Kevin Outterson and John Rex, 8/12)
The New York Times: I Started Khan Academy. We Can Still Avoid An Education Catastrophe.
It is becoming clear that many of our nation’s children could be attending school from home for this school year and possibly longer. If educators and families aren’t empowered with the right support and tools, this will evolve from an education crisis to an education catastrophe. As the founder of the philanthropically funded nonprofit Khan Academy, which provides free online exercises, videos and software to over 100 million users in 46 languages, I’m something of a poster child for online learning. (Sal Khan, 8/12)
CNN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Why I Am Not Sending My Kids Back To School
One of the questions I am getting more than any other: Am I going to send my children back to school? As a father of three teen and preteen girls, this has been a constant discussion in our household, and it hasn't been easy. (Dr. Sanjay Gupta, 8/12)
Los Angeles Times: Why Children Suffer Violence Amid COVID-19
We now know that many schools in California and other states won’t reopen for in-person classes this year. While this is judged necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it has frightening implications for the psychological and physical well-being of vulnerable children. School closures have led to a dramatic fall in reports of child abuse across the country since educators account for more than a fifth of reports of child abuse and neglect — more than any other category of reporter. One analysis found that monthly state totals of child abuse reports were an average of 40.6% lower in April and 35.1% lower in May compared with reports in those same months in 2019. (Angelina Jolie, 8/12)
The Wall Street Journal: DeVos’s Sexual-Assault Rule Prevails
One of the stakes in November’s election is the fate of the Trump Administration’s due-process reforms for campus sexual-assault cases. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s new rule goes into effect Friday, and this week it passed its first legal tests. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued to stop the rule and sought a preliminary injunction. Federal Judge John Koeltl, a Bill Clinton appointee, denied the injunction this week on grounds that the department had followed proper procedure in drafting the rule and would likely prevail on the merits. The rule defines sexual harassment under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and requires schools to set up grievance processes for handling complaints. Colleges must allow accuser and accused to choose advisers who can cross-examine witnesses. (8/12)
Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Derby 2020: Churchill Downs Is Wrong To Invite 23,000 To Town
Let me be the first to thank the good folks at Churchill Downs for throwing caution to the wind and inviting some 23,000 human coronavirus test tubes to Louisville on the first Saturday in May September to spread their pathogens all over the city. I mean, what better way to usher in fall than by becoming a hot spot for the virus that has already killed 160,000 Americans and infected more than 5 million of them. We know what is important around here. It's the almighty buck, at least as far as Churchill Downs shareholders are concerned. (Joseph Gerth, 8/12)
