Weekly Edition: August 21, 2020

As Georgia Reopened, Officials Knew of Severe Shortage of PPE for Health Workers
By Rachana Pradhan and Victoria Knight State officials said they urgently needed millions more masks and gowns, internal emails show. At least 80 Georgia health workers have died from COVID-19, including after the state reopened its economy.

PPE Shortage Could Last Years Without Strategic Plan, Experts Warn
By Jessica Glenza, The Guardian The rolling shortages of personal protective gear continue even in hospitals, as buyers look directly for manufacturers — often through a maze of companies that have sprung up overnight.

Teen Artist’s Portraits Help Frame Sacrifice of Health Care Workers Lost to COVID
By Elizabeth Lawrence A 15-year-old high school student in New Jersey is memorializing doctors, nurses and others who died after tending to coronavirus patients.

Politics Slows Flow of US Pandemic Relief Funds to Public Health Agencies
By Lauren Weber and Hannah Recht and Laura Ungar and Michelle R. Smith, The Associated Press Congress has allocated trillions of dollars to ease the coronavirus crisis. A joint KHN and AP investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing.

Trust, Fear and Solidarity Will Determine the Success of a COVID Vaccine
By Arthur Allen Polio terrified Americans, and in 1955, when Jonas Salk’s vaccine became available, they snapped it up like candy. Sixty-five years later, COVID is the latest dread virus, but many undercurrents could inhibit its acceptance.

With COVID Vaccine Trial, Rural Oregon Clinic Steps Onto World Stage
By JoNel Aleccia A small allergy clinic in Medford, Oregon, might seem an unlikely place to recruit hundreds of volunteers to test the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19. But its steward has a record of leading hundreds of clinical trials.

Swab, Spit, Stay Home? College Coronavirus Testing Plans Are All Over the Map
By Michael McAuliff and Sebastián Martínez Valdivia, KBIA and Christine Herman, Side Effects Public Media and Stephanie O'Neill 2020 will be a year like no other on college campuses, as every institution makes its own rules. Some have no plans to routinely test students for the coronavirus; others aim to test every student and staff member twice a week.

DeSantis Says COVID Is a Lower Risk for School-Aged Kids Than Flu
By Phil Galewitz Although it is still early, available numbers provide backup.

We Put Off Planning, Until My Father-in-Law’s Medical Crisis Took Us by Surprise
By Judith Graham Although the family patriarch did not face a life-threatening emergency, the episode was a reminder that you have to prepare for a real crisis.

Isolation, Disruption and Confusion: Coping With Dementia During a Pandemic
By Heidi de Marco COVID-19 has upended the lives of people with dementia, limiting their interactions with others and complicating matters for their caregivers.

Scam Alert: Things a COVID Contact Tracer Wouldn’t Say
By Julie Appleby Criminals are finding ways to reap gains under the guise of this public health intervention.

California’s Data Failures Stymie Efforts to Curb the Virus
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Angela Hart Counties say the ripple effects of the state’s COVID-19 data failures are impeding their ability to slow the spread of the coronavirus, even as they must make life-or-death decisions about business and school reopenings.

Deadly Mix: How Bars Are Fueling COVID-19 Outbreaks
By Will Stone In some states, bars and taverns have brought legal challenges to the coronavirus restrictions that have slowed sales and business.

COVID Plans Put to Test as Firefighters Crowd Camps for Peak Wildfire Season
By Matt Volz Thousands of firefighters from across the U.S. have converged on the West as the wildfire season enters its peak. The inherently dangerous job now carries the additional risk of COVID-19 transmission, and fire managers are adapting their plans for crowded fire camps in the hope of preventing outbreaks that could sideline crews and weaken the nation’s firefighting infrastructure.

COVID Testing Choke Points
By Hannah Norman A case study of COVID-19 testing in Sacramento, California, shows that bottlenecks in the testing supply chain this summer limited people’s access to tests and dramatically delayed results. Similar scenarios played out in communities across the country.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Democrats in Array (For Now)
In a highly produced, made-for-TV political convention, Democrats papered over their differences on a variety of issues, including health care, to show a unified front to defeat President Donald Trump in November. Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to complicate efforts to get students back to school, and a federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate anti-discrimination protections for transgender people. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.

GOP Senate Ad Misrepresents Montana Governor’s Stance
By Victoria Knight The race between Steve Bullock and Steve Daines reflects a trend in campaigns nationwide. Republicans often paint Democrats as left of the general public and health care has often been one of the issues the GOP highlights in that effort. In this case, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is leaping to conclusions with its claims.

Democratic Convention, Night 1: Hitting Trump Team on Pandemic Preparedness
The coronavirus was a critical theme throughout the evening.

Democratic Convention, Night 2: Defending the ACA and Attacking Trump on Pandemic
Democrats continued the virtual extravaganza. Health care was a hot topic.

Democratic Convention, Night 3: Making the Party Lines Clear
Sen. Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president amid strong arguments against Donald Trump.

Democratic Convention, Night 4: ‘Facts Over Fiction’ in Biden’s Speech
The Staffs of KHN and PolitiFact The impact of the novel coronavirus, and the current administration's response to it, were central themes in Joe Biden's presidential nomination acceptance speech.

‘Pennie’-Pinching States Take Over Obamacare Exchanges From Feds
By Phil Galewitz Pennsylvania and New Jersey are leaving the federal marketplace this fall to save money and will start their own insurance exchanges. Kentucky, New Mexico, Virginia and Maine are looking to join them in 2021 or beyond.