Public officials are putting high hopes on new blood tests as a means of determining who has developed antibodies to COVID-19, and with those antibodies, presumed immunity. But experts caution the tests are largely unreliable and the science is still catching up.
This week on “An Arm and a Leg,” a front-line physician wonders if the health care industry’s drive for “efficiency” has robbed the system of surge capacity, leaving the nation underprepared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Older bodies respond to infection in different ways. Seniors may sleep more or stop eating. They may be confused or dizzy. They might simply collapse.
Activists failed to convince state legislators that diseases like measles aren’t serious enough to require vaccination. Now they’re joining with conservatives and other anti-lockdown demonstrators who contend the coronavirus isn’t dangerous enough to justify staying home.
Poorly rated long-term care facilities stand out in the COVID-19 crisis — but even the best are affected.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed won nationwide praise for taking drastic early measures against COVID-19. But her hesitation over how to care for the homeless came back to bite her.
Many states are dramatically loosening regulations on nurse practitioners as the coronavirus pandemic increases demand for health care workers. But not California.
As wardens across the country grapple with COVID-19 outbreaks, inmates are being released to prevent widespread contagion in overcrowded prisons.
Across the U.S., pediatric practices that provide front-line care for the nation’s children are struggling to adjust to crashing revenues, terrified parents and a shortage of protective equipment — and all while being asked to care for young patients who could well be vectors for transmission without showing symptoms.
The pandemic has exposed massive cracks in the foundations of the U.S. public health system. Getting the country back to normal, experts say, will require a major investment in Public Health 101: training a corps of workers who can track people with the virus and prevent them from passing it to others.
