Hospitals across the country are struggling as staffers get infected with the coronavirus. It’s especially tough for small, rural hospitals, where even one doctor out sick can upend patient capacity.
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Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients to Cities, Straining Hospitals
Critically ill rural patients are often sent to city hospitals for high-level treatment, and as their numbers grow, some urban hospitals are buckling under the added strain. Meanwhile, mask-wearing and other pandemic prevention measures remain spotty in rural counties.
Clots, Strokes and Rashes: Is COVID a Disease of the Blood Vessels?
COVID-19 can cause symptoms that go well beyond the lungs, from strokes to organ failure. To explain these widespread injuries, researchers are studying how the virus affects the vascular system.
They Work in Several Nursing Homes to Eke Out a Living, Possibly Spreading the Virus
An analysis of location data from 30 million smartphones found that facilities across the country that share the most workers also had the most COVID-19 infections. The “Kevin Bacon of nursing homes” in each state — the one with the most staffers working at other nursing homes — was likely to have the worst outbreaks of coronavirus contagion.
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.
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.
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.
When Prisons Are ‘Petri Dishes,’ Inmates Can’t Guard Against COVID-19, They Say
Indiana prisoners said they can’t protect themselves from the virus, as the governor resists calls to reduce overcrowding. “Scared for our lives,” said an inmate.
When Prisons Are ‘Petri Dishes,’ Inmates Can’t Guard Against COVID-19, They Say
Indiana prisoners said they can’t protect themselves from the virus, as the governor resists calls to reduce overcrowding. “Scared for our lives,” said an inmate.
Listen: Pandemic Stresses Already Fragile Rural Health Care Systems
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber joined WAMU’s “1A” show to talk about the challenges facing rural America during the COVID-19 pandemic.
