Widespread Impacts Of The Pandemic Felt

The Wall Street Journal: Covid Spurs Families To Shun Nursing Homes, A Shift That Appears Long Lasting
The pandemic is reshaping the way Americans care for their elderly, prompting family decisions to avoid nursing homes and keep loved ones in their own homes for rehabilitation and other care. Americans have long relied on institutions to care for the frailest seniors. The U.S. has the largest number of nursing-home residents in the world. But families and some doctors have been reluctant to send patients to such facilities, fearing infection and isolation in places ravaged by Covid-19, which has caused more than 115,000 deaths linked to U.S. long-term-care institutions. (Wilde Mathews and McGinty, 12/21)

AP: Farm Company Fined $2 Million After 2 Workers Die Of Virus
An agricultural company in Washington state where two workers died from COVID-19 was fined more than $2 million for repeatedly violating coronavirus virus safety procedures. “It’s unacceptable to chose to ignore health and safety rules,” Joel Sacks, the director of state Department of Labor & Industries, told reporters Monday. Labor & Industries launched an investigation in July after being contacted by an employee of Gebbers Farm Operations in Brewster, Washington. (12/21)

Politico: Why Social Media Hasn’t Been Able To Shut Down Vaccine Misinformation 
False claims about the dangers of coronavirus vaccines were running rampant on social media even before Americans began receiving their first shots last week — and now the months-long rollout to the entire population is giving bad information even more room to fester. It started with baseless rumors that the inoculations would kill or sterilize the recipients, alter people’s DNA or fail to keep up with virus mutations. Now it is expanding to more elaborate conspiracy theories in an era already rife with mistrust of government and other institutions. Social media companies are trying to keep up, but in many ways they’re already behind, given the monumental task of combating misinformation about a massive, first-of-its-kind public health campaign. (Levine, 12/21)

AP: US Public School Enrollment Dips As Virus Disrupts Education
An analysis of data from 33 states obtained by Chalkbeat and The Associated Press shows that public K-12 enrollment this fall has dropped across those states by more than 500,000 students, or 2%, since the same time last year. That is a significant shift considering that enrollment overall in those states has typically gone up by around half a percent in recent years. And the decline is only likely to become more pronounced, as several large states have yet to release information. Chalkbeat and AP surveyed all 50 states, but 17 have not released comparable enrollment numbers yet. (Belsha, LaMarr LeMee, Willingham and Fenn, 12/22)

Philadelphia Inquirer: A Byproduct Of The Pandemic? Colleges See Soaring Interest In Health Fields
Entry to medical school has always been extremely competitive and the higher numbers mean it will be even more competitive this year. Not all of the increase is due to the pandemic, officials say. In times of economic downturn, enrollments tend to rise as students who may have taken a few years off to work decide instead to continue their education. More students are applying to a larger number of schools. And numbers had been on the rise anyway, with a shortage of physicians projected by 2032. But that Anthony Fauci, the benevolent doctor who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has become a household name and that everyone’s life has been altered by the coronavirus have certainly stoked interest. (Snyder, 12/21)

In mental health news —

The Baltimore Sun: No, It’s Not Weird To Talk To Yourself. Baltimore Mental Health Experts Point To Pandemic, Unrest As Possible Reasons 
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep much of the population in their homes for most of the day, it’s taking a toll on our collective mental health. In Baltimore, calls to the city’s crisis hotline have doubled during the pandemic and Sheppard Pratt Health System, one of the nation’s leading mental health care providers, has created a virtual walk-in clinic to help meet the demand for services. (Davis, 12/22)

North Carolina Health News: NC Didn’t Track The Data On Mental Health Commitments, So Some Advocates Did It Instead
Advocates found the state had a big problem, but because no one was counting, no one was aware of how many psychiatric patients were being treated against their will. This is the second story in a series about how more people in mental health crisis end up involuntarily committed for treatment and why that’s a problem. (Knopf, 12/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Feeling Depressed? Bacteria In Your Gut May Be To Blame 
Scientists are exploring evidence that major depression may in part be a gut feeling, orchestrated by the microbiome—trillions of microorganisms living in and around our bodies, which influence our health and well-being. In a series of studies, researchers are discovering that the microbial menagerie living in our digestive tract may help regulate brain function, including mental health. Recent findings by scientists in the U.S., Europe and China are linking our feelings of stress, anxiety and severe depression to disturbances among hundreds of microbe species living in our gut that some researchers have started calling the psychobiome. (Hotz, 12/21)

KHN: Health Officials Fear Pandemic-Related Suicide Spike Among Native Youth 
Fallen pine cones covered 16-year-old Leslie Keiser’s fresh grave at the edge of Wolf Point, a small community on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation on the eastern Montana plains. Leslie, whose father is a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, is one of at least two teenagers on the reservation who died by suicide this summer. A third teen’s death is under investigation, authorities said. (Reardon, 12/22)

In news about homelessness —

Los Angeles Times: Attorneys Decry 'Cleanups' Of Homeless Encampments During Pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged communities, public health experts worried about the deadly consequences for homeless people sleeping on the streets. It’s a group rife with other health problems that could make it especially susceptible to the easily transmissible coronavirus. In the spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned against disruptions such as clearing encampments, which could increase the potential for spreading the disease. On Monday, a coalition of lawyers and advocates for homeless people complained that the city of Los Angeles was ignoring that advice by cleaning camps, putting people in encampments throughout the city at heightened risk. (Oreskes, 12/21)

Bangor Daily News: Deaths Among Homeless People Up 60 Percent In Portland This Year
At least 64 people have died this year while experiencing homelessness in Portland through Dec. 20. That figure is the highest on record and more than 60 percent higher totals for each of the past five years, according to data released Sunday by Preble Street, a nonprofit social services agency that provides shelter and resources to those in need of housing. The agency found that between 34 and 43 people died each year from 2015 to 2019. (Schroeder, 12/21)

Indianapolis Star: Homelessness Coalition Honors Those Who Died In Marion County In 2020
The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention holds the Annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service each Winter Solstice in recognition of those who were actively or had recently experienced homelessness at the time of their death. However, due to COVID-19, this year's ceremony was held virtually, and rather than tolling the downtown church's bell, mourners sat together in silence. Eighty-seven people were honored Monday, the highest number recorded in the last five years. Fifty-eight individuals were honored in 2019, 70 in 2018, 59 in 2017 and 45 in 2016. (Hays, 12/21)