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.
The rolling shortages of personal protective gear continue even in hospitals, as buyers look directly for manufacturers — often through a maze of companies that have sprung up overnight.
Poor information-sharing between hospitals and public health agencies has hurt the response to the pandemic. Some health care systems and IT companies are making inroads, but an overhaul would cost billions.
About 70 college students are enrolled this summer in a program developed by San Francisco researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health that allows them to explore the pandemic’s impact on communities facing health disparities.
A review by KHN and the Associated Press finds at least 49 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 23 states. One of the latest departures came Sunday, when California’s public health director was ousted.
A review by KHN and the Associated Press finds at least 49 state and local public health leaders have resigned, retired or been fired since April across 23 states. One of the latest departures came Sunday, when California’s public health director was ousted.
Hundreds of thousands of essential workers have kept their kids in day care during the pandemic out of necessity and, so far, these centers haven’t been big disease spreaders. But the evidence remains incomplete.
Richard Costigan, a well-respected fixture in state Capitol circles, has detailed his family’s ongoing experiences with COVID-19 on social media after catching the virus — he surmises — at a backyard gathering. The former Schwarzenegger aide wants people to know this virus doesn’t care who you are.
Americans are avoiding hospitals and clinics by the millions, even when they shouldn’t, and many experts expect a jump in preventable disease diagnoses after the COVID crisis eases. Paradoxically, the pandemic may have been good for some heart patients, however.
Early in the pandemic, insurers expected the costs of treating COVID-19 would vastly increase medical spending. Instead, non-COVID care has plummeted and insurers have pocketed the result. Still, few industry observers are predicting broad-based premium cuts in 2021, though some health plans have proposed lowering their rates.
