The process is not as simple as calling your doctor or pharmacy, saying you want to be tested for COVID-19 and getting it done. Clinicians decide whether patients meet the criteria to warrant it. Circumstances are further complicated because tests are in short supply.
As the new coronavirus continues its spread through the U.S., the general public can look for guidance from millions of Americans with weakened immune systems who long ago adopted the rules of infection control that officials tout to avoid contagion.
The number of U.S. health care workers who have been ordered to self-quarantine because of potential exposure to the new coronavirus is rising at an exponential pace. Many experts say something has to change.
Concerns over Comic Con in Seattle mount as HIMSS and other huge conferences halt their plans.
Emergency medical technicians, ambulance crews and some firefighters are facing new threats from the coronavirus, which could put their normal contingency plans to the test.
Emergency medical technicians, ambulance crews and some firefighters are facing new threats from the coronavirus, which could put their normal contingency plans to the test.
If a coronavirus pandemic were to hit the U.S., only 36 states have blueprints for “crisis standards of care” to sort out who gets what kind of medical care amid scarce resources. And not all the plans are of high quality. That means health care providers in some states will be better prepared for a crisis than others — but all could face tough decisions.
Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, calls on state and federal health inspectors to focus on how facilities keep infections from spreading, especially in areas that have reported coronavirus cases.
In an era when we get flash-flood warnings on phones, potentially vital, lifesaving knowledge is being kept under wraps.
The Homeland Security secretary missed the mark with his estimate of the flu’s annual U.S. mortality rate.
