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Opening up for surgeries will be a welcome decision for anxious patients who waited weeks for procedures that are important. But hospitals are still trying to figure out the best way to keep patients safe amid the pandemic.
“It’s easy to be wise after the event,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in defense of the agency's slow acknowledgment that it was facing shortages.
“We know our vaccine rates were already tenuous, so any additional hit to that is a great worry,” said Dr. Elizabeth Meade, a pediatrician in Washington. The doses states distribute vaccines for federally funded programs have also dropped since the pandemic started. Public health news is on choosing to die at home, risky health conditions, a ''virus of fear'' keeping sick people away from hospitals, problems from leaders forgoing masks, fashion designers making masks, felines testing positive, climate change's role in the pandemic and parents dealing with online schooling, as well.
The House blocked the Senate's no-strings $250 billion package for the small business fund and got a measure nearly double that with extra money for hospitals systems and expanded testing. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been adamant that he's not going to just pass another stimulus package just because the Democrats want it. Meanwhile, banks say the supplemental funds for the small businesses will be used up quickly.
It does not apply to immigrants already in the United States, nor to those seeking temporary visas, including students or guest workers like farmers. President Donald Trump has walked back his hard stance against suspending all immigration early in the week after an outcry from business groups.
Media outlets report on news from the District of Columbia, California, Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Maine, New Mexico, Indiana and Nevada, as well.
Ohio and Washington reports were unavailable for a Wall Street Journal survey finding at least 10,700 deaths among more than 35 states in facilities for seniors. Public health experts say nursing homes need better testing before allowing visitors again, once states reopen. Other news on nursing homes is from New York, Louisiana and Indiana.
After weeks of legal wrangling, abortion services are again available in Texas after a new order by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) took effect allowing more elective procedures halted by the pandemic to resume. And more abortion news comes from Arkansas, as well.
News is reported on coronavirus spreads in Ohio, Texas, Iowa, Indiana and Louisiana prisons.
Experts say that even with precautions, there's a chance that meat plants -- where social distancing is impossible -- may not be able to guarantee workers' safety and still operate. “It’s not that people aren’t trying. It’s just that it is very difficult to control this illness,” said Dennis Burson, an animal science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Last week another 4.4 million Americans sought unemployment benefits after losing their jobs due to the coronavirus-driven shutdowns. The staggering figures suggest that the U.S. unemployment rate has spiked as high as 20%.
U.s. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited concerns over the threat of zoonotic diseases, but WHO officials say the markets are an important source of affordable food for many. WHO did say, though, that safety regulations show play a crucial role in whether they can reopen.
Researchers may be duplicating each other's efforts and working at cross-purposes in the chaotic scientific blitz taking place all over the globe. Meanwhile, Fox News hosts, who touted the malaria drug as a COVID-19 treatment, now go silent after scientific evidence shows it might not live up to the hype.
As doctors continue to gain battlefield experience fighting the virus, extremely strange symptoms keep emerging. One of the latest is that doctors are seeing clots across multiple organs, but especially in the lungs. The symptoms present so frequently that some doctors now recommend most COVID-19 patients receive blood thinners.
A study finds that 88% of 320 COVID-19 patients on ventilators who were tracked in New York died. One other surprising finding from the research shows that 70% of the patients sick enough to be admitted to the hospital did not have a fever.
Media outlets take a look at HHS Secretary Alex Azar's early role in the pandemic efforts, and how his missteps still haunt him. Meanwhile, Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, is still in charge of the emergency-response supply chain despite his lack of experience and outcries from states about how poorly it's being run. And the rest of the world watches in saddened disbelief as America, once looked at as a global leader, crumbles beneath the weight of the virus.
Rick Bright, the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, claims that his ousting is due to his comments about hydroxychloroquine, a drug that President Donald Trump touted prematurely as a "game changer." Democrats have called for an investigation into Bright's removal, as some experts worry his removal is part of a bigger trend of retaliation against scientists who don't fall in line.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar Azar declined to specify how much money would be allotted to help hospitals providing uncompensated care for COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, CMS warns that COVID-19 treatment could cause Medicare reserves to run out and Medicaid waivers are approved to help deal with costs.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has taken the most aggressive stance toward reopening his state, and even President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for the country to start returning to normalcy, said “I think it’s too soon.” Kemp's decision is being met with both skepticism and praise in his state.
A network of right-leaning individuals and groups, aided by nimble online outfits, are helping incubate the fervor erupting in state capitals across the country. Meanwhile, despite the attention the protests have garnered, polls consistently show that most Americans favor caution when it comes to stay-at-home orders.
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