Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Workers Ask Large Retailers To Boost Pay, Safety During Shopping Season
The Washington Post: Walmart, Amazon And Other Large Retailers Urged To Reinstate Hazard Pay Ahead Of Holiday Rush
Workers at Walmart, Amazon, Kroger and other major retailers are calling on their employers to reinstate hazard pay and strengthen safety protocols ahead of the busy holiday shopping season as coronavirus infection rates skyrocket. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), which represents 900,000 grocery employees at chains such as Kroger, Safeway and Giant, on Monday urged retailers to do more to protect workers from the virus that has sickened more than 12.3 million Americans. (Bhattarai and Ingraham, 11/23)
CNN: Publix Lawsuit: Family Says Company Failed To Protect Employee From Covid-19
The family of a Publix employee who died from coronavirus complications has filed a wrongful death lawsuit that claims the grocery store chain refused to allow employees to wear masks at the time he became sick. Gerardo Gutierrez, 70, contracted the virus from a fellow deli employee, Monday's lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County alleges. It contends the chain in the early months of the pandemic was worried face coverings would frighten customers. (Toropin, 11/23)
In other public health news —
USA Today: Toilet Paper Panic Buying Is On A Roll Again, Stores Report Shortages
Don’t count on finding toilet paper on your next run to Target or Walmart. Paper products and other household staples are in high demand in stores and online again as the virus surges and lockdowns loobut none more so than those essential rolls of soft cotton squares. Photos of bare shelves and public pleas to leave behind a few rolls for other shoppers are overflowing social media. (Guynn, 11/23)
The Wall Street Journal: South Dakota College Basketball Tournament Cancels Plans For Fans
A college basketball tournament scheduled to be played in South Dakota this week said Monday that it canceled plans to allow hundreds of people to congregate indoors to watch games in a state where the coronavirus is rampant. The men’s and women’s tournaments called the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic start in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Wednesday. The tournament, sponsored by Sanford Health, a large health-care operator in the state, had planned to allow 850 fans into the arena for each game. (Cohen and Radnofsky, 11/23)
The Washington Post: Addiction Support Groups: When Covid Forces Recovery Online
In the roughly eight years since she left treatment for alcohol-use disorder, Amy Durham has been to countless recovery group meetings. At first, she went every day, before gradually scaling back to two or three times a week — a routine she stuck with until this past March, when the coronavirus pandemic shuttered many in-person meetings nationwide. “I was really on solid ground in my recovery at that point, so I would say I wasn’t fearful for my own recovery, but it was quite jarring to me,” said Durham, 48, who is the corporate director of alumni relations at Pennsylvania-based Caron Treatment Centers, where she herself received treatment. (Chiu, 11/23)
The Washington Post: Covid Has Invaded Our Kids’ Pretend Play. Experts Say It’s A Good Thing.
Kelly Morse entered her 4-year-old son’s pretend doctor’s office one day last April and asked him how she was doing. She was taken aback when he examined her with his toy stethoscope and responded, solemnly, “Not well, you’ve got coronavirus.” A few months later, he started to brainstorm how a covid-19 vaccine might work, theorizing “that what we needed is a vaccine made of tiny alligators that could be injected into the blood to eat up all the coronavirus,” says Morse, a mother of two in Norfolk. Not all parents who engage in imaginary play with their children are getting diagnosed with covid-19, or brainstorming outside-the-box vaccine ideas. But coronavirus-themed play is increasingly common as living with the virus is becoming a long-term reality for children in the United States. (Pelly, 11/23)
CNN: E. Coli: Romaine Voluntarily Recalled Over Possible E. Coli Risk, FDA Says
A limited number of cases of organic romaine lettuce hearts have been recalled because of a possible risk of E. coli. The US Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday that Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. voluntarily recalled the produce. (Thomas and Kim, 11/23)
KHN: New Legal Push Aims To Speed Magic Mushrooms To Dying Patients
Back in March, just as anxiety over COVID-19 began spreading across the U.S., Erinn Baldeschwiler of La Conner, Washington, found herself facing her own private dread. Just 48 and the mother of two teenagers, Baldeschwiler was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer after discovering a small lump on her chest, no bigger than a pea. Within weeks, it was the size of a golf ball, angry and red. Doctors gave her two years to live. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “Frankly, I was terrified.” (Aleccia, 11/24)
In airline industry news —
The Washington Post: Want To Fly? Get A Vaccine, Says Qantas CEO
Australian air carrier Qantas anticipates asking all international travelers to prove they’ve been immunized against the coronavirus once a vaccine is widely available — a requirement that is likely to be adopted throughout the industry, CEO Alan Joyce said Monday. “I think it will be a common theme, talking to my colleagues in other airlines across the world,” Joyce told Australia’s Nine News. (Farzan, 11/24)
NPR: American Airlines Ends Weight Limit Policy Affecting People In Power Wheelchairs
American Airlines has reversed a policy that meant some people who use heavy wheelchairs could no longer fly on certain small regional jets. The recent policy banned wheelchairs weighing more than 300 pounds from some of its smaller jets. Many power wheelchairs, with batteries and motors, weigh more than that. (Shapiro, 11/23)
