A Chilling Cure: Facing Killer Heat, ERs Use Body Bags to Save Lives
Doctors in Washington state used human body bags filled with ice and water to rapidly cool the sickest patients affected by record heat last month.
Washington
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Public Health Experts Worry About Boom-Bust Cycle of Support
Congress has poured tens of billions of dollars into public health since last year. While health officials who have juggled bare-bones budgets for years are grateful for the money, they worry it will soon dry up, just as it has after previous crises such as 9/11, SARS and Ebola. Meanwhile, they continue to cope with an exodus from the field amid political pressure and exhaustion that meant 1 in 6 Americans lost their local health department leader.
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Battle Brews Over Neutral Zone Where Border-Crossing Parties Rendezvous, Risking Infection
Peace Arch Park on the U.S.-Canadian border has become a rare place where families and friends on either side of the border can see one another in person. But it raises questions on covid safety as the two countries handle the pandemic differently.
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Nosing In on Kids Who Had Covid and Lost Their Sense of Smell
Clinicians at pediatric hospitals are experimenting with “smell training” among children who had covid-19 and have now lost this sense.
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Why the U.S. Is Underestimating Covid Reinfection
Hundreds of Americans suspect they contracted covid early in the pandemic and recovered, only to get infected again months later. But because the U.S. does so little genetic sequencing of covid samples, we don’t know much about reinfection rates.
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A Battle-Weary Seattle Hospital Fights the Latest COVID Surge
Harborview Medical Center was at the epicenter of the first wave of coronavirus in the U.S. Staffers have a better understanding of the disease as cases surge, but fatigue and a lack of backup staff are big challenges.
By Will Stone -
New Legal Push Aims to Speed Magic Mushrooms to Dying Patients
A proposal in Washington state would use right-to-try laws to allow terminally ill patients access to psilocybin — the famed magic mushrooms of America’s psychedelic ’60s — to ease depression and anxiety.
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Trump’s Lame-Duck Status Leaves Governors to Wing It on COVID
As coronavirus cases surge, state officials can’t afford to wait for a new president to take office before taking action. But some governors’ initiatives seem to be little more than policy tweaks or symbolic gestures.
By Matt Volz -
Lions and Tigers and Anteaters? US Scientists Scan the Menagerie for COVID
Thousands of animals in the U.S. have been tested for the coronavirus, as researchers work to understand its transmission and which other species might be at risk. So far, dozens have tested positive, mostly cats and dogs exposed to sick owners.
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How Families Are Keeping Halloween From Turning Into a COVID Nightmare
Parents are turning to spooky scavenger hunts, pumpkin-carving and movie nights as alternatives to trick-or-treating. Health professionals have their own advice on how to safely celebrate Halloween during the pandemic.
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Lack of Antigen Test Reporting Leaves Country ‘Blind to the Pandemic’
A KHN review found more than 20 states either don’t count or have incomplete data on the use of COVID-19 antigen tests, leaving the public in the dark about the true scope of the pandemic.
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Making Gyms Safer: Why the Virus Is Less Likely to Spread There Than in a Bar
Gyms are reopening with fewer people and more protocols, and they want to rehabilitate their pandemic-battered image. Although there's not much evidence, they say science is on their side.
By Will Stone -
Without Federal Protections, Farm Workers Risk Coronavirus Infection to Harvest Crops
Skeptics say the lack of enforceable federal safety standards geared toward the coronavirus allows these employers to prioritize the harvest over worker safety.
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Hospital Merger in Washington State Stokes Fears About Catholic Limits on Care
Virginia Mason Health System and CHI Franciscan announced plans in July to merge 12 hospitals and more than 250 other treatment sites in the Puget Sound region and the Yakima area. Some patient advocacy groups warn the proposal would jeopardize access to needed services, such as emergency termination of pregnancies, contraception and physician aid in dying.
By Harris Meyer -
Scientists Want to Know More About Using UV Light to Fight COVID-19 Spread
'Germicidal' ultraviolet light technology has a proven track record against indoor transmission of tuberculosis and other airborne microbes. It's now being used in some restaurants and on subways.
By Will Stone -
Hype Collides With Science As FDA Tries To Rein In ‘Wild West’ of COVID Blood Tests
Amid questions about the accuracy of the COVID-19 antibody tests flooding the market — and the usefulness of the results they provide — the FDA has belatedly stepped in to try to rein in the chaos.
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‘We Miss Them All So Much’: Grandparents Ache As The COVID Exile Grinds On
The pandemic has forced millions of families to weigh the risks of vulnerable grandparents getting too close to their beloved grandchildren — against the heartache of staying away.
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Hospital Workers Complain of Minimal Disclosure After COVID Exposures
From cafeteria staff to doctors and nurses, hospital workers around the country report frustrating failures by management to notify them when they have been exposed to co-workers or patients known to be infected with COVID-19.
By Jenny Gold and Markian Hawryluk -
Eerie Emptiness Of ERs Worries Doctors As Heart Attack And Stroke Patients Delay Care
Emergency department volumes are down 40 to 50 percent across the country. Doctors worry a new wave of cardiac patients is headed their way — people who have delayed care and will be sicker and more injured when they finally seek care.
By Will Stone and Elly Yu, KPCC -
‘You Pray That You Got The Drug.’ Ailing Couple Gambles On Trial For COVID-19 Cure
Josie and George Taylor of Everett, Washington, are two of the first people in the U.S. to recover from novel coronavirus infections after joining a clinical trial for the antiviral drug remdesivir.