Health Workers Resort To Etsy, Learning Chinese, Shady Deals To Find Safety Gear
The shortages are so dire that nursing homes and other health centers are going to extraordinary lengths for masks, gowns and essential materials.
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White House Left States On Their Own To Buy Ventilators. Inside Their Mad Scramble.
Although laws prohibit price gouging on precious resources in times of emergency, states have been forced to compete for a share of the nation’s stockpile of ventilators — used to treat the sickest COVID patients — or pay top dollar on sideline deals. With quality and quantity control lacking, what happens when the pandemic’s second wave hits?
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KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Say What? The Spread Of Coronavirus Confusion
Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the public seems more confused than ever. And health officials still are not all on the same page; this week the World Health Organization had to walk back an official’s statement about how commonly the virus is spread by people without symptoms. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews Michael Mackert, a professor and health communications expert at the University of Texas-Austin, about how health information can best be translated to the public.
Read MoreCOVID-19 Batters A Beloved Bay Area Community Health Care Center
Health clinics in isolated African American communities in the San Francisco Bay Area provide crucial services to neglected populations. But like thousands of other community clinics around the nation, their finances have been wrecked by the pandemic shutdown.
Read MoreFederal Help Falters As Nursing Homes Run Short Of Protective Equipment
More than 3,000 nursing homes reported less than a week’s worth of supplies, and 653 said they had run out entirely at some point. Stopgap FEMA equipment has not reached many facilities, and packages that have arrived have fallen short of promises.
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Using Stories To Mentally Survive As A COVID-19 Clinician
The practice of narrative medicine helps health care professionals hear the life stories behind a patient’s immediate complaints. Some doctors are finding that these skills also provide an alcove of needed reflection amid the pandemonium of COVID-19.
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Fighting COVID And Police Brutality, Medical Teams Take To Streets To Treat Protesters
Off-duty medical professionals joined protests in Denver and elsewhere sparked by George Floyd’s death to treat injured protesters, risking injury themselves.
Read MoreAt-Home Care Designed For COVID Likely Here To Stay At Cleveland Hospital
A public hospital in Cleveland has been trying to keep COVID patients out of its beds. It tried a number of innovations for developing better communication — even better relationships — with patients. Officials think this groundwork helped keep the outbreak at bay — and should be the new business model going forward.
Read MoreBarr Says Police Didn’t Use Chemical Irritants To Clear Area By DC Church. They Did.
The attorney general’s assertion is directly at odds with the description of pepper balls offered by the manufacturer.
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New Coronavirus Hot Spots Emerge Across South And In California, As Northeast Slows
Nationwide, coronavirus infection numbers are trending down, but several states are seeing upticks, with the heaviest impact falling on communities of color and nursing home residents.
Read MoreA Family With Five Doctors — And Two COVID Deaths
A New Jersey family tried everything they could to save their father and sister, but faced shortages of protective gear and grim hospital conditions.
Read MoreSociety Is Reopening. Prepare To Hunker Down At Home Again.
First, businesses started to reopen; then racial justice protesters flooded the streets. Social distancing is beginning to fade. Are you ready for a second wave of COVID-19 infections ― and a renewed lockdown?
Read MoreWhen A Doctor No Longer Accepts Medicare, Patients Left Holding The Bag
As doctors look for alternative ways to charge patients for care, some Medicare enrollees may lose access to their physicians.
Read MoreThe Elevator Arises As The Latest Logjam In Getting Back To Work
As more and more people drift back into their workplaces, they face a very small space that can create a large logjam: the elevator.
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At Lake Of The Ozarks, It’s (Almost) Business As Usual, Despite The Coronavirus
This popular resort area gained national attention for a viral video showing Memorial Day partiers disregarding guidelines to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Now, with summer looming and at least one COVID-19 case connected to the gathering, it reflects the difficult balance between safety and tourism.
Read MoreFor EMTs, There’s No ‘Rule Book’ For Facing A Pandemic And Protests At Once
Emergency medical technicians, who have been on the front lines against the coronavirus, also play a key role in helping provide care during protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Read MoreExclusive: Nearly 600 — And Counting — US Health Workers Have Died Of COVID-19
The Guardian and KHN release new figures Saturday showing the harsh toll that the pandemic is taking on the front-line health workers.
Read MoreTear-Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak ‘A Recipe For Disaster’
Health researchers are among the voices calling for police to stop using tear gas and pepper spray on protesters, because these chemical irritants can damage the body in ways that can spread the coronavirus and increase the severity of COVID-19. One example: Tear gas and pepper spray can sow confusion and panic in a crowd, causing people to rip off their masks and touch their faces, leading to more contamination.
Read MoreBaltimore’s ‘Squeegee Boys’: ‘If We Don’t Go Out, We Don’t Eat’
The federal government’s relief package left behind many of America’s poorest workers struggling to make ends meet as the coronavirus ravaged and unemployment rose. Baltimore’s “squeegee boys” are among them.
Read MoreRapid Changes To Health System Spurred By COVID Might Be Here To Stay
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the nation’s doctors and hospitals to reevaluate how they work. At least three major changes may have a lasting impact.
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