Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Wildfires Provide Another Reason to Mask Up
As the long U.S. fire season gets underway, it’s even more important for Western residents to have a good face mask. Unfortunately, most of the masks we’re wearing for COVID-19 aren’t great for smoke.
Analysis: You’ve Checked for Fever. Now, What’s Your Risk Tolerance?
Getting out of our bunkers doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind.
Los incendios forestales son otra razón para usar máscaras
El humo de más de 300 incendios forestales en California está asfixiando a mucha gente en el centro y norte del estado y expandiendo sustancias tóxicas en el aire.
Is Cuomo Directive to Blame for Nursing Home COVID Deaths, as US Official Claims?
New York’s governor directed nursing homes to take COVID patients. But is it fair to say he “forced” them to do so, or that his directive led to the deaths of thousands of elderly residents? Most public health experts say no.
Cómo Florida drenó su sistema de salud pública y le abrió la puerta a COVID
A medida que la nación empezó a drenar su sistema de salud pública, personal y fondos cayeron más rápidamente en este estado, dejándolo desprotegido para la peor crisis de salud en un siglo.
Florida’s Cautionary Tale: How Gutting and Muzzling Public Health Fueled COVID Fire
As the nation hollowed out its public health infrastructure for decades, staffing and funding fell faster and further in Florida. Then the coronavirus ran roughshod, infecting more than half a million people and killing thousands.
Inside the Race to Build a Better $500 Emergency Ventilator
Inspired to help during the COVID pandemic, a volunteer SWAT team of engineering and medical talent combines old-fashioned problem-solving and advanced 3D printing — but will it actually help?
Trump Is Sending Fast, Cheap COVID Tests to Nursing Homes — But There’s a Hitch
Experts say the administration’s approach with antigen tests could add cost and risk for the most vulnerable patients.
One College’s Pop-Up COVID Test: Stop and ‘Smell the Roses’ (Or the Coffee)
Forget those thermometers. Researchers, finding a surer link between the loss of the sense of smell and a coronavirus infection, suggest the symptom may be an easy and less expensive method for screening.
Democratic Convention, Night 4: ‘Facts Over Fiction’ in Biden’s Speech
The impact of the novel coronavirus, and the current administration’s response to it, were central themes in Joe Biden’s presidential nomination acceptance speech.
California’s Data Failures Stymie Efforts to Curb the Virus
Counties say the ripple effects of the state’s COVID-19 data failures are impeding their ability to slow the spread of the coronavirus, even as they must make life-or-death decisions about business and school reopenings.
Deadly Mix: How Bars Are Fueling COVID-19 Outbreaks
In some states, bars and taverns have brought legal challenges to the coronavirus restrictions that have slowed sales and business.
Swab, Spit, Stay Home? College Coronavirus Testing Plans Are All Over the Map
2020 will be a year like no other on college campuses, as every institution makes its own rules. Some have no plans to routinely test students for the coronavirus; others aim to test every student and staff member twice a week.
DeSantis Says COVID Is a Lower Risk for School-Aged Kids Than Flu
Although it is still early, available numbers provide backup.
Democratic Convention, Night 3: Making the Party Lines Clear
Sen. Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president amid strong arguments against Donald Trump.
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Democrats in Array (For Now)
In a highly produced, made-for-TV political convention, Democrats papered over their differences on a variety of issues, including health care, to show a unified front to defeat President Donald Trump in November. Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to complicate efforts to get students back to school, and a federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate anti-discrimination protections for transgender people. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Alerta por fraude: cosas que un rastreador de contactos de COVID nunca preguntaría
Los rastreadores de contactos legítimos no solicitan pagos ni buscan otra información financiera, advierten defensores de los consumidores y funcionarios.
Scam Alert: Things a COVID Contact Tracer Wouldn’t Say
Criminals are finding ways to reap gains under the guise of this public health intervention.
COVID Plans Put to Test as Firefighters Crowd Camps for Peak Wildfire Season
Thousands of firefighters from across the U.S. have converged on the West as the wildfire season enters its peak. The inherently dangerous job now carries the additional risk of COVID-19 transmission, and fire managers are adapting their plans for crowded fire camps in the hope of preventing outbreaks that could sideline crews and weaken the nation’s firefighting infrastructure.
A case study of COVID-19 testing in Sacramento, California, shows that bottlenecks in the testing supply chain this summer limited people’s access to tests and dramatically delayed results. Similar scenarios played out in communities across the country.
