California’s Deadliest Spring in 20 Years Suggests COVID Undercount
California’s death count for the first five months of the pandemic was 13% higher than average for the same period during the prior three years. Subtract the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 and experts say that still leaves scores of “excess” deaths among people of color that likely were mistakenly excluded from the coronavirus death tally.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
In Face of COVID Threat, More Dialysis Patients Bring Treatment Home
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, more patients are administering dialysis to themselves at home rather than receiving it in a clinic. Although home dialysis limits exposure to the virus, it comes with its own challenges.
A Pandemic Upshot: Seniors Are Having Second Thoughts About Where to Live
More than 70,000 residents and staff members at nursing homes and assisted living facilities have died of COVID-19, and others are under strict rules designed to keep the disease from spreading. That has evoked concern that living in a communal facility could be dangerous.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: It’s Scandal Week
President Donald Trump this week issued a prescription drug pricing order unlikely to lower drug prices, and he contradicted comments by his director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the need for mask-wearing and predictions for vaccine availability. Meanwhile, scandals erupted at the CDC, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration. And the number of people without health insurance grew in 2019, reported the Census Bureau, even while the economy soared. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Students’ Mass Migration Back to College Gets a Failing Grade
Epidemiologists and disease modelers tried to predict what would happen when students moved back to campus. Although some universities listened to their advice, that didn’t stop outbreaks from happening.
Black Women Turn to Midwives to Avoid COVID and ‘Feel Cared For’
Midwifery was a tradition among slaves from Africa, but in more recent decades, pregnant Black women have generally shunned the approach. Now, home births and midwives are making a comeback in the Black community.
Es difícil decir si es COVID, síntomas por inhalar humo… o la gripe que ya llega
Por los incendios en California, pacientes llegan a los centros de salud con síntomas similares a los de COVID. Y hay que seguir los protocolos.
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.
Tough to Tell COVID From Smoke Inhalation Symptoms — And Flu Season’s Coming
Respiratory symptoms stemming from coronavirus infection and smoke inhalation are too similar to distinguish without a full workup. This is complicating the jobs of health care workers as wildfires rage up and down the West Coast.
COVID Vaccine Trials Move at Warp Speed, But Recruiting Black Volunteers Takes Time
The National Institutes of Health has suggested minorities should be overrepresented in COVID-19 vaccine trials — perhaps at rates that are double their percentage of the U.S. population. But efforts to recruit patients from racial minority groups are just beginning, while some trials have already advanced to phase 3.
Los NIH, “muy preocupados” por efectos secundarios en ensayo de vacuna para COVID
La Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos está evaluando la posibilidad de seguir a los reguladores británicos y reanudar el ensayo de la vacuna. Pero hay dudas.
Lights, Camera, No Action: Insurance Woes Beset Entertainment Industry Workers
Many actors, directors, backstage workers and others in the entertainment industry are often eligible for health coverage through their unions, a model that some experts promote for other gig workers. But coverage is determined by past employment, and many of these professionals aren’t working because of the coronavirus.
COVID Exodus Fills Vacation Towns With New Medical Pressures
As people leave COVID-stricken cities to settle semi-permanently in vacation communities, locals assess how these new residents are changing demands on medical services.
Luz, cámara… sin acción: problemas con el seguro de salud en Hollywood por COVID
Los sindicatos de la industria del entretenimiento gerencian seguros de salud basados en las horas de trabajo, un problema en medio de una pandemia que paralizó las producciones.
NIH ‘Very Concerned’ About Serious Side Effect in Coronavirus Vaccine Trial
The AstraZeneca trial is on hold in the U.S. as scientists try to unravel whether a rare neurological condition is linked to the vaccine. But regulators are frustrated by a lack of information from the drugmaker.
‘Terrible Role-Modeling’: California Lawmakers Flout Pandemic Etiquette
As California workers and schoolchildren struggled to work from home, state lawmakers met in person. And as their legislative session came to a close in late August, they broke COVID rules: They huddled, let their masks slip below their noses, removed their masks to drink coffee — and required a new mom to vote in person while toting her hungry newborn.
Readers and Tweeters Grapple With COVID Therapies and Forecasts
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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.
Kids Are Missing Critical Windows for Lead Testing Due to Pandemic
Inspections for lead hazards and blood testing for lead have dropped significantly just as kids are spending more time in the places where their exposure to the poisonous metal is highest: their homes.
