Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Other Diseases Will Flourish As Efforts Focus On COVID-19; Unclear Numbers On Testing Harm Understanding Of Disease's Spread
The Washington Post: Prepare For Collateral Damage As Devastating As The Virus
The pandemic of the novel coronavirus is a bow wave, slicing through whole populations at breakneck speed. But what is not being seen yet is the enormous collateral damage to global health. The pandemic is making it harder or impossible to combat such scourges as measles, polio, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, which caused death and suffering even before covid-19, and now will bring even more. The wake of the pandemic may become every bit as devastating as the bow wave. (4/16)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Shows Gaps In U.S. Ability To Track Disease
In the U.S., federal expenditures for public health have fallen from 1% of total healthcare expenditures in the early 1970s to 0.3% in 2018. But there is nothing like a global pandemic to motivate the public to pause and consider the proper role of government in healthcare and how to improve the system. As we move forward, one key component of a strengthened public health system should be a real-time universal data system for tracking infectious disease. Collecting and analyzing real-time data on the number of cases and deaths during a disease outbreak is crucial in tracking the spread of disease and gauging its impact. But the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that these numbers can’t provide reliable information without the relevant denominator: the number of people tested. (Gilbert Welch, 4/17)
Boston Globe: Tracking Coronavirus With Smartphones Isn’t Just A Tech Problem
Since the beginning of the pandemic, it’s been clear that public health data can help us respond to COVID-19. But the quest for data can also create new threats that are alarming in their own right. We see that potential problem in a collaboration between two of Silicon Valley’s fiercest rivals, Google and Apple, which have joined forces to create a contact tracing platform to help contain the virus. (Albert Fox Cahn and Evan Seligman, 4/17)
CNN: Create A CARES Corps To Lead The Covid-19 Recovery
Americans are hearing a lot from mayors and doctors right now, in the crucible of a public health emergency unlike any seen in the United States since the 1918 flu pandemic a century ago. This partnership is playing out in communities across the country: physicians are treating patients affected by the Covid-19 surge and dispensing advice on how to do it better, and elected leaders are welcoming that guidance in hopes of saving more lives. (Eric Garcetti, David Holt and Mark McClellan, 4/16)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Is Becoming America's Leading Cause Of Death
In just weeks, Covid-19 deaths have snowballed from a few isolated cases to thousands across the country each day. The U.S. surgeon general had warned that last week would be like Pearl Harbor as he attempted to create context for the threat — but it turned out that more than five times as many Americans died from Covid-19 last week than were killed in the World War II raid. You can grasp the scale when you compare a single week’s pandemic deaths with how many people die of major causes in a typical week. (Dan Keating and Chiqui Esteban, 4/16)
Stat: Medical Students Called To The Covid-19 Fight Need Protection
As the escalating Covid-19 pandemic puts increasing pressure on health systems, a shortage of medical personnel has hospitals looking toward unconventional sources to fill the gap. Some are bringing in retired physicians. Others are turning to medical students. (Goshua, 4/17)
CNN: My Team Fights To Save The Sickest Patients. Give Us Head-To-Toe Protection
As my patient lost his pulse, not one person hesitated to take action. A nurse jumped in to do CPR, a physician placed a breathing tube in his trachea, while another placed a large IV catheter for a rapid blood transfusion. As an emergency physician, I (Alicia) was the team leader, assigning roles and directing every action. My team had done this hundreds of times. (Alicia Lu and Dan Wu, 4/16)
Stat: I Was A 'Perfect Setup' To Be Fooled By Covid-19
“Hi,this is Pooja,” I answered my phone promptly. I had been waiting all day for this call from the occupational health department at the hospital where I work. Though I had tested negative for Covid-19, it was my eighth day of isolation for a “deep, dry cough” that seemed to be improving, and I was eager to return to work. (Pooja Yerramilli, 4/17)
The Hill: Age Must Not Be Used As Primary Criteria To Deny Treatment
As we face a global pandemic, depictions of older people as frail, vulnerable, and burdensome have dominated the news. Chillingly, these stereotypes have made it acceptable for some governments and health systems in the U.S. and abroad to develop guidelines that permit providers to use age as a proxy to deny life-saving treatments, such as a ventilator, if there is a scarcity. (Nora Super and James Appleby, 4/16)
Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Has Broken The U.S. Health System. Now What?
With the United States experiencing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, the facade of our health system has come crashing down. We simply cannot afford to go on with the current structure, starting with how we provide access to care. Twenty-two million Americans have filed jobless claims in the last four weeks. Not only have they lost their incomes, they may have lost something even more valuable during a pandemic: health insurance. (Haider Warraich, 4/16)
