Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Innovations Like These, Not A Dangerous 'Game Changer', Will Get U.S. Back On Track; Lessons From South Korea On Tracing
The Washington Post: Here Are The Innovations We Need To Reopen The Economy
It’s entirely understandable that the national conversation has turned to a single question: “When can we get back to normal?” The shutdown has caused immeasurable pain in jobs lost, people isolated and worsening inequity. People are ready to get going again.Unfortunately, although we have the will, we don’t have the way — not yet. Before the United States and other countries can return to business and life as usual, we will need some innovative new tools that help us detect, treat and prevent covid-19. (Bill Gates, 4/23)
The Washington Post: The Lessons From Trump’s Reckless Recommendation Of Hydroxychloroquine
The frenzy over the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine is probably not the last time someone will dangle the prospect of a miracle cure for covid-19. More wild claims and false starts can be expected. That is why it is important to grasp the lessons of President Trump’s reckless recommendation of a drug without evidence of efficacy. Especially at a time of grave distress, the lesson is: Demand evidence, seek proof and don’t listen to quacks anywhere. (4/23)
JAMA: Information Technology–Based Tracing Strategy In Response To COVID-19 In South Korea—Privacy Controversies
Amid the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, South Korea was one of the next countries after China to be affected by the disease. Confirmed cases in Korea were first reported on January 20, 2020, and spiked from February 20 to 29, 2020. Instead of deploying aggressive measures such as immigration control, lockdown, or roadblocks, South Korea mounted a trace, test, and treat strategy. This was made possible by the preparations that the country had made after the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak of 2015. South Korea extensively utilized the country’s advanced information technology (IT) system for tracing individuals suspected to be infected or who had been in contact with an infected person. Such measures helped flatten the curve of newly confirmed cases and deaths around mid-March. As of April 21, 2020, there had been 10 683 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea, with a total of 2233 patients who are in isolation because of hospitalization or quarantine, and a total of 237 deaths. However, important concerns have been raised over privacy involving the tracing strategy. (Sangchul Park, Gina Jeehyun Choi, and Haksoo Ko, 4/23)
Stat: A 'Swiss Cheese' Approach Can Help Contain Covid-19
Fifteen years ago, in response to the threat of H5N1 avian influenza, my team at the White House developed the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. We recognized that the world would have to make its way through the first wave of a pandemic, and possibly the second wave, without a vaccine. (Rajeev Venkayya, 4/24)
The Hill: Slow Science Is Better Science
Is science being done the right way during this pandemic? With the rush to find solutions to combat the spread of COVID-19, there has been a surge in scientific findings being released to the public without going through the normal peer-review process — a hallmark of academic research writing to ensure the information is accurate. (Marlone Henderson and Art Markman, 4/23)
CNN: What A Sugar Cube Can Teach Us As We Develop A Coronavirus Vaccine
As a kid, I remember my mother taking me to "get my shot." I whined my way into the doctor's office, fully expecting a sharp, pointy needle. To my joyous discovery, the vaccine I received came in the form of a sugar cube. I happily gobbled it down, and in the process received life-long protection from polio.A half century later, this memory resurfaced after a conversation with a reporter about Covid-19. (Michael S. Kinch, 4/23)
Stat: I Had To Call People Whose Covid-19 Tests Were Positive. It Taught Me A Lot
As part of my work as an emergency medicine resident, I began a rotation in the second week of March as the physician charged with telling patients about their lab results. That once meant calling people to let them know about positive urine cultures or incidental findings on imaging. The emergence of Covid-19 dramatically changed what I do. (Caroline Schulman, 4/24)
The Hill: Thousands Of Americans Will Face Food Insecurity, Unless We Act Now
The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to touch its critical mass, and yet, 21 million people have already lost their jobs. In Hawaii, Michigan and Rhode Island, one in five workers have lost employment. Although some families may be able to deal with the financial damage caused by the pandemic, others will face extreme hardship. This includes families of color and single-parent households who may be thrust into poverty until the economy recovers from this public health crisis. (Hussain Lalani and Jacquelyn Corley, 4/23)
The Hill: Export Bans On Medical Supplies Can Be Lethal
Panic spread by crises is lethal to sound policymaking. And perhaps no policy pursued today is more unsound than bans on the exportation of medical supplies. Such export bans now cover most of the Eurasian continent, and a member of Congress is urging their use in the United States. Don’t. Please don’t. Even ignoring (which we shouldn’t) the ill effects inflicted on non-Americans, such a ban in the United States would eventually reduce access to medical supplies for Americans. (Donald J. Boudreaux and Veronique De Rugy, 4/23)
The New York Times: We’re All Grieving. This Is How We Get Through It.
Anxiety, dread, depression — these are just some of the emotions that hit us as we shelter in place and as death tolls rise. In the Video Op-Ed above, the psychotherapist Esther Perel coaches us through the losses and collective grief we are experiencing. While therapists rarely divulge personal experience, Ms. Perel offers a rare glimpse into how she processes this crisis, as a mother, a member of the at-risk population and the child of two Holocaust survivors. (Esther Perel, 4/22)
Los Angeles Times: We All Need To Shake Off The Pandemic, Literally
Eight years ago, when my boyfriend and I started dancing in our living room after dinner, little did we think our somewhat eccentric pastime would sweep the nation. But if social media are any gauge , dancing at home is the coronavirus pandemic’s bathtub gin. Confined to the all-too-familiar patch of steel and plaster we call home, Americans are sashaying and kick-ball changing our sadness and fear away. Families are erupting into tiny pageants of jazz hands. A dance challenge started by the video-sharing app TikTok, meant to promote social distancing, has drawn more than 4.6 billion views. Videos from LeBron James, Mark Wahlberg and Judd Apatow suggest that now may be the best time ever to see heterosexual men tangle with precision choreography. (Henry Alford, 4/21)
The New York Times: What To Say (And Not Say) To Workers On The Front Lines
“How are you doing?” a text message alert on my phone reads. “Thinking of you.” I’m a doctor caring for Covid-19 patients in the intensive care unit of a New York City hospital. I’m OK, I tell my friends and family. But OK is a relative term. Physically, aside from fatigue and a raw nose bridge, I am fine. Emotionally, my work has a sense of vital purpose. Even tending to the dying, as hard as it is, has a moral clarity that lifts my spirit. To dignify another human in such extremis is why I became a physician. (Colleen Farrell, 4/23)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Expand Eligibility For Prison Release In Light Of Pandemic
Twenty percent of Ohio cases of COVID-19 are in Marion Correctional Institution, according to news sources. That so many affected individuals are in a prison accentuates the difficult reality of the vulnerability of the imprisoned population and should cause us to reflect that a criminal conviction and a prison sentence should not constitute an automatic death sentence. (Fanon Rucker, 4/23)
Stat: Reshaping Health Care In The Aftermath Of Covid-19
I’m a doctor who treats patients with Covid-19 in the emergency department and the intensive care unit. So it’s no surprise that people often ask me how I’m doing these days. I’m a lot of things. I’m honored that patients trust me with their lives... I am also really, really angry. (Keith Corl, 4/23)
