Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Anti-Vaccine Activists Latch Onto Coronavirus To Bolster Their Movement

KFF Health News Original

Activists failed to convince state legislators that diseases like measles aren’t serious enough to require vaccination. Now they’re joining with conservatives and other anti-lockdown demonstrators who contend the coronavirus isn’t dangerous enough to justify staying home.

California Nurse Thrived In ER and ICU, But Couldn’t Survive COVID-19

KFF Health News Original

Jeff Baumbach, 57, was a seasoned nurse of 28 years when the novel coronavirus began to circulate in California. He’d worked in the ER, the ICU and on a cardiac floor. Hepatitis and tuberculosis had been around over the years but never posed a major concern.

Pediatric Practices Struggle To Adapt And Survive Amid COVID-19

KFF Health News Original

Across the U.S., pediatric practices that provide front-line care for the nation’s children are struggling to adjust to crashing revenues, terrified parents and a shortage of protective equipment — and all while being asked to care for young patients who could well be vectors for transmission without showing symptoms.

How Do We Exit The Shutdown? Hire An Army Of Public Health Workers

KFF Health News Original

The pandemic has exposed massive cracks in the foundations of the U.S. public health system. Getting the country back to normal, experts say, will require a major investment in Public Health 101: training a corps of workers who can track people with the virus and prevent them from passing it to others.

Postcard From The Edge: L.A. Street Vendors Who Can’t Stop Working

KFF Health News Original

Foot traffic in L.A. has fallen off a cliff amid the COVID-19 crisis, driving many street vendors away. But some are still on the streets, peddling their wares out of economic necessity. Many are undocumented immigrants who won’t get any help from the recently approved $2 trillion federal assistance package.