As coronavirus cases surge, state officials can’t afford to wait for a new president to take office before taking action. But some governors’ initiatives seem to be little more than policy tweaks or symbolic gestures.
Category: COVID-19
Fear of Flying Is a COVID-Era Conundrum
As coronavirus cases take off across the U.S., airlines promote holiday deals and encourage travel. But are flyers throwing caution to the wind?
These Front-Line Workers Could Have Retired. They Risked Their Lives Instead.
An investigation by KHN and The Guardian shows that 329 health care workers age 65 or older have reportedly died of COVID-19.
Take It From an Expert: Fauci’s Hierarchy of Safety During COVID
In a new interview, the nation’s top infectious disease expert tells us how to survive the coming months and describes how hard it is when people still insist the coronavirus outbreak is “fake news.”
KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: What Would Dr. Fauci Do?
Anthony Fauci is one of the public’s most trusted voices during public health emergencies. As the head of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, Fauci has helped guide the nation through the HIV/AIDS epidemic and more recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika. In this special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” podcast, Fauci sits down with KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal to talk about how to navigate the next phase of the coronavirus pandemic and what the incoming Biden administration should do first.
People Proving to Be Weakest Link for Apps Tracking COVID Exposure
Contact tracers in many states are stretched thin. Colorado is among the latest states to launch an app that aims to help, based on the COVID contact-tracing tool built by Apple and Google. But there’s a chicken-and-egg problem: More people will use them if they prove to work, but the apps become effective only if more people use them.
States’ Face-Covering Mandates Leave Gaps in Protection
States vary in how they define face coverings in their mandates. But a bandanna or neck gaiter isn’t nearly as effective as a surgical or cloth mask. Public health experts say every state needs more standardization to protect against COVID-19.
Government-Funded Scientists Laid the Groundwork for Billion-Dollar Vaccines
Drugmakers will walk away with massive profits, but much of the pioneering work on mRNA vaccines was done with government money.
As Broad Shutdowns Return, Weary Californians Ask ‘Is This the Best We Can Do?’
California’s ping-ponging approach to managing the pandemic — twice reopening large portions of the service sector economy only to shut them again — has residents and business owners on edge. But experts say the push and pull on businesses may be what success looks like in much of the U.S. for months to come, given COVID-19’s pervasive spread.
Anger After North Dakota Governor Asks COVID-Positive Health Staff to Stay on Job
Doctors and nurses say order puts lives in danger, amid a COVID surge and a statewide shortage of health care workers.
