Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Keeping Fauci, Other Medical Experts On Board As Advisors Is Essential To Recovery; Delays In Public Education Campaigns For Black Communities Is Tragic
The Wall Street Journal: Targeting Tony Fauci
The U.S. may be fighting through a public health and economic emergency, but for the media resistance the most important story is always Donald Trump. Monday was again dominated by breathless reports about Mr. Trump’s relationship with Anthony Fauci after the President retweeted something that included a #FireFauci hashtag. While Mr. Trump’s antagonists feign protectiveness of Dr. Fauci and horror that Mr. Trump might question expert judgment, the truth is they are eager for a public brawl that will hurt the President politically. Monday’s dust-up was prompted by an interview Dr. Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, gave Sunday on CNN. Host Jake Tapper, fishing for criticism of the Trump Administration, compared the U.S. to South Korea and pressed Dr. Fauci on whether “lives could have been saved” if the U.S. started shutting down in February. (4/13)
The Hill: Thankfully, The Doctor Is In
Dr. Bob Kadlec literally wrote the script on how to fight a pandemic. While toiling away in the Pentagon, the White House and the United States Senate, few have given more thought to the type of havoc a biological attack or pandemic could wreak upon America. Fortunately for us, Kadlec is in the driver’s seat of the U.S. government’s COVID-19 response and there is nobody better qualified for the job. (Former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), 4/13)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Delays In Educating City's Black Community About Coronavirus Risks Cost Lives
An entire month has passed since the coronavirus scare rattled St. Louis to its core and officials started escalating efforts to limit public gatherings and halt the virus’ spread. Yet it wasn’t until Saturday — long after the major damage was done — that canvassers began handing out flyers and hanging posters in black-majority areas of the city. A lack of concentrated neighborhood-education efforts almost certainly played a role in how this pandemic has exacted a particularly heavy toll on the black community. (4/13)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Black Americans Disproportionately Represented In COVID-19 Deaths
African Americans are dying from COVID-19 at disproportionate rates. At the same time, we are less likely to even be tested. We are less likely to be treated for the virus. And we are more likely to be low-wage essential workers on the front lines, putting us at greater risk for contracting the virus.If that doesn’t make you want to weep, you might want to check your pulse. Me? I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. (Gracie Bonds Staples, 4/14)
The New York Times: American Health Care Is An Engine Of Inequality
In March, Congress passed a coronavirus bill including $3.1 billion to develop and produce drugs and vaccines. The bipartisan consensus was unusual. Less unusual was the successful lobbying by pharmaceutical companies to weaken or kill provisions that addressed affordability — measures that could be used to control prices or invalidate patents for any new drugs. The notion of price control is anathema to health care companies. It threatens their basic business model, in which the government grants them approvals and patents, pays whatever they ask, and works hand in hand with them as they deliver the worst health outcomes at the highest costs in the rich world. (Anne Case and Angus Deaton, 4/14)
Bloomberg: Ten Reasons To Doubt The Covid-19 Data
If you’re like me, you’ve been watching the daily data on the coronavirus pandemic, seeking glimmers of hope in the trajectories: the infected, the hospitalized, the intubated, the dead. If only there were more understanding to be had. The more I look at the numbers, the more I see their flaws. Here are my top 10. 1. The number of infected is close to meaningless. Only people who get tested can be counted, and there still aren’t enough tests — not even close, and not in any country save perhaps Iceland. (Cathy O'Neil, 4/13)
CNN: Flatten The Curve, But Please Don't Make It A U
Thirty years ago, the tuberculosis (TB) expert Dr. Lee Reichman coined the term, "The U-shaped curve of concern" to describe the challenges of TB control. His notion was this: When a disease like TB is rampant, dollars, attention and expertise are brought to bear. Soon, cases decrease, creating the sinking left-hand side of the "U." But this success soon creates a new challenge. (Kent Sepkowitz, 4/13)
Stat: BSL-2 Labs Should Be Allowed To Handle The Novel Coronavirus
Not long after SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in December 2019 as the cause of an alarming cluster of severe pneumonia cases in central China, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention correctly advised that the virus should be isolated and studied only in laboratories with advanced containment capabilities, meaning those with a biosafety level (BSL) of 3 or higher. Things have changed radically since then. (Glenn Rockman, 4/14)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Protecting The Nation’s Most Vulnerable During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Human services providers for those with intellectual disabilities, autism, brain injury and behavioral challenges are valiantly grappling with a no-win situation: how to manage safely through the COVID-19 Pandemic. Their focus remains clear; to keep clients and staff safe, and to bring programs and services into homes to minimize client contact with others. The clients they support have a wide range of complex issues, including severe behavioral challenges, psychiatric disorders, and medical conditions that put them at greater risk for the worst outcomes if they contract COVID-19. (Tine Hansen-Turton, 4/13)
CNN: Hours Before He Died Of Covid-19, A Detroit Police Captain Wanted To Get Back To Work
You've been daydreaming lately, if you're anything like me, imagining a glorious celebration with all the people you know and love. Now picture this one: a party in the summertime, a hall packed with brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins and enough barbecue ribs for everyone. Face-painting and balloon animals for the kids. Whiskey and beer for the grownups. (Thomas Lake, 4/13)
CNN: Why New York Has Been Hit So Hard By Coronavirus
New York state reached a tragic milestone this week: It now has more Covid-19 patients than any country in the world, aside from the United States. The state's total of 181,026 cases, as of April 11, is higher than Spain's (161,852 cases) and Italy's (152,271), countries with populations many times larger than New York. (Kent Sepkowitz, 4/13)
