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Some prominent Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), are trying to re-frame the messaging around mask wearing. President Donald Trump's refusal to be seen wearing a mask has stoked political tensions over the practice. Meanwhile, The Washington Post fact checks Trump's online alternate reality when it comes to the pandemic.
American reached a grim milestone on Wednesday as the official count of those dead climbed past 100,000. The sheer scope of loss is hard for many to comprehend but far surpasses most other disasters in the country's history. Media outlets look at the lives behind those startling numbers.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Many children rely on schools to provide them at least one meal a day, but advocates and lawmakers are concerned that the problem of childhood hunger would only get worse during the lock down. But as of mid-May only 12 states sent eligible families money and only two had completed the process. Meanwhile, experts warn about a global hunger crisis on the horizon.
There's growing talking point among conservative-leaning media alleging that providers have a financial incentive to mark a death as COVID-19, but a top HHS official knocked down those claims. In other news on costs: surprising medical bills and struggling hospitals.
Stateline contacted 16 states with higher percentages of black people to find out whether any states were taking concrete actions to stem COVID-19 cases and deaths in black communities. "The virus isn’t going after black people. It’s because of structural inequities that have led to poor health and greater exposure to the virus.” said Lisa Cooper, a professor of medicine and public health at Johns Hopkins University. Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina and Virginia provided the greatest detail on how they are responding. Other news reports on the death of two black men in the District of Columbia.
The lawyer for the suspended superintendent Bennett Walk released emails showing he regularly updated them about the outbreak at Holyoke Soldiers' Home and asked for help. News on nursing homes is from Nevada, as well.
President Donald Trump announced a policy change that would mean Medicare recipients who pick a drug plan offering the new insulin benefit would pay a maximum of $35 a month starting next year. The roll out, though, left drug pricing reform advocates disappointed and experts scratching their heads.
Opinion writers weigh in on these public health topics and others.
Screenings have shown to be key in curbing the disease, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. Also, nearly half of people polled said they're delaying medical appoints and suffering from mental health problems.
"We now have really clear evidence that wearing masks works -- it's probably a 50% protection against transmission," said Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. But masks have become a hot-button political topic and a divide over compliance to rules is emerging. In other scientific news on the virus: recovery times, what we still don't know, worrisome signs in critical cases, plasma therapy, and the origins of the outbreak.
Global pandemic developments are reported out of South Korea, Canada, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Greece, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina, Panama, Brazil, China, Chile, Peru and other nations.
Young adults and the poor have been hit especially hard, the Census Bureau report finds. More public health news is on problems from being isolated, tips from the Dalai Lama on facing isolation, imbibing bad news, healthy travel suggestions for flyers, traffic concerns, navigating parenting disagreements, hungry rodents, technology's watchful eye, and a tale of two infected parents, as well.
The case centered around Ohio's Elkton Federal Correctional Institution, where one in four inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. The Supreme Court justices kept the decision narrow and didn't close the door on any future cases that might have similar circumstances. Prisons have been fertile ground for the virus and advocates worry about the safety of inmates across the country.
Experts predict an avalanche of evictions across the country. Even before the current joblessness crisis, eviction was troublingly common in America. Researchers estimate that about 3.7 million eviction cases were filed in 2016, a year when the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent. It's now closing in on 15 percent. Other news on the economy focuses on credit card fraud and jobless benefits.
Investigators closed probes into the stock activities of Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) at the beginning of the pandemic. However, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is still under investigation over records that show he and his wife sold between $600,000 and $1.7 million in stock in more than 30 transactions in late January and mid-February.
But the lawsuit may face an uphill battle in the courts, where judges have been reluctant to second-guess Congress’s ability to set its own rules.
OSHA experts were confident new airborne infectious disease regulations would make hospitals and nursing homes safer when future pandemics hit--but those rules are time consuming and unpopular. In spring 2017, President Donald Trump's team stripped the regulation out of OSHA's agenda.
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