Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Virginia Rolls Out First Contact Tracing App In US Using Apple-Google Tech
Reuters: Virginia Touts Nation's First Contact Tracing App With Apple-Google Tech
Virginia on Wednesday launched the first contact tracing app for the novel coronavirus in the United States that uses new technology from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O). The state is betting that the app, COVIDWISE, can help it catch new cases faster, though long delays in getting test results must be overcome in order for it to be effective. (Dave, 8/5)
Stat: This Company Has A Better Version Of A Simpler, Faster Covid-19 Test
In some parts of the U.S. right now, it can take weeks to get results for a simple Covid-19 test, a delay that renders the results largely useless. So a handful of city governments and schools are turning to an entirely different type of Covid-19 test that they say is simpler, easier, and most importantly faster — and therefore more meaningful. (Sheridan, 8/6)
San Francisco Chronicle: ‘A Harrowing Black Hole Of Information’: Some Nursing Homes Leave Families In The Dark About Coronavirus
Nearly five months into the pandemic, many nursing homes continue to leave families in the dark about their relatives’ test results or the prevalence of the virus in the facility. The state requires nursing homes and assisted living facilities to notify family members immediately after a positive test anywhere in the facility. But families and nursing home experts say that doesn’t always happen. (Ravani, 8/6)
Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Test Issues Skew California Results, Slow Response
A breakdown in the electronic collection of coronavirus test data is hampering California’s pandemic response, with some public health officials resorting to counting results by hand and a growing number of counties warning the public that statistics provided by the state on infection rates are unreliable. The ongoing technical problems with the electronic system for gathering and analyzing COVID-19 infection rates affect the state’s ability to track the spread of the virus and could be resulting in significant undercounts of infections across the state. (Shalby, 8/5)
ABC News: In Communities Of Color, One Organization Is Helping To Fill The COVID-19 Testing Gap
In a predominantly Latino neighborhood in the Bronx, New York, doctors working through the non-profit group SOMOS Community Care have spent months on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, those same doctors are traveling to other cities around the country that have been seeing surges in new COVID-19 cases in an effort to get free testing to communities of color, which have already been hit disproportionately hard by the virus and face scarcities in access to testing as well. (Rios, Pedersen, Kim and Rivas, 8/5)
How other nations are tackling the issue —
The New York Times: Welcome Back To Germany. Now Take Your Free Coronavirus Test.
When she returned to Germany last week from a vacation in Serbia, one of the first things Snjezana Kirstein did was to stop at a pop-up coronavirus testing center at Berlin’s Tegel Aiport. Whereas such tests can be hard to find in the United States, with unpredictable costs and results two weeks in coming, Ms. Kirstein was on her way in a matter of minutes after having her nose and throat swabbed. She expected an answer in 24 to 48 hours. The test was not only swift, it was free. (Eddy, 8/5)
