Category: states

Scientists Want to Know More About Using UV Light to Fight COVID-19 Spread

‘Germicidal’ ultraviolet light technology has a proven track record against indoor transmission of tuberculosis and other airborne microbes. It’s now being used in some restaurants and on subways.

An Ickier Outbreak: Trench Fever Spread by Lice Is Found in Denver

Three people around Denver have confirmed cases of trench fever, and another person is suspected of having the rare disease, carried by body lice. A scourge during World War I, the illness is the latest problem to emerge as everyone’s attention is diverted to COVID-19.

As Coronavirus Patients Skew Younger, Tracing Task Seems All But Impossible

Although younger people are hospitalized and die less frequently than their elders when infected with COVID-19, their cases are harder to trace. As a result, the virus is spreading uncontrollably throughout much of Southern California. Even hospital staffs are affected by community spread.

Must-Reads of the Week

KHN’s Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber drills through the vital health care policy stories of the week, so you don’t have to.

Trump Administration’s Sudden Shift on COVID Data Leaves States in the Lurch

Missouri Hospital Association says the switch of data collection from the CDC to a new HHS contractor is “a major disruption.” In Kansas, the move likely will delay hospitalization data.

Montana Rodeo Goes On, Bucking Fears on Fort Peck Reservation

Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes initially opposed the Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede this year, worrying about hundreds of people coming to their reservation for the rodeo amid coronavirus concerns. But the annual event was on private land and went ahead, highlighting the reopening tensions between resuming normal economic activities and protecting the vulnerable.

Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Fly Free as Health Departments Focus on Coronavirus

Health departments and other public agencies tasked with protecting the nation from disease-carrying mosquitoes are overstretched amid the coronavirus pandemic — even as the nation is told it’s safest to be outside.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Trump Administration’s War on Fauci

Case counts for COVID-19 are rising in nearly every state, yet a major campaign by the Trump administration this past week was an attempt to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, a trusted voice in public health. Meanwhile, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s surprise decision to protect abortion rights, there’s been a flurry of activity on reproductive health issues in lower federal courts. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Erin Mershon of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more.

Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness

About 1,000 children worldwide have had the condition known as MIS-C — Multisymptom Inflammatory Syndrome in Children. Children’s hospitals around the U.S. are trying to keep tabs on young people after they recover from the ailment, to gauge any long-term effects.