A recent report by the California state auditor faults two state health departments for failing to ensure that children receive required blood lead tests and for not doing enough to reduce childhood lead exposure in high-risk areas. Lawmakers are proposing several measures to increase testing.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was out front nationally when he ordered nearly all Californians to stay at home to stem the spread of COVID-19. But local officials warn it won’t work without tougher enforcement.
In an interview with California Healthline, the state’s Senate leader, Toni Atkins, makes clear that with social-distancing measures in force it will be difficult to debate and pass complicated budget measures ― but public health, education and public safety will be priorities.
Maryland, Ohio and others are reporting only positive tests, which skews tracking and an understanding of how the virus spreads.
Six states — Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas — have taken steps to limit inappropriate prescriptions for the medicine and preserve supplies for patients who take it for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Californians are under orders to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus — and the result is that some of Southern California’s best-known spots are shuttered or deserted, from Santa Monica Pier to Olvera Street.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave huge cities roughly the same number of test kits as some rural spots, which crippled efforts by health officials to contain the virus.
As illness from the new coronavirus stresses the health care system, nurses said they are being forced to make do with less and learning to be good stewards of available equipment and protective gear.
Almost half of the nation’s rural hospitals operate in the red on a good day. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospital CEOs warn that soon some may be unable to pay their workers. And their doors may close when the community most needs them.
Even as many states put a moratorium on elective surgeries in a desperate effort to preserve dwindling stocks of protective gear, hospitals in other pockets of the country continue to perform a range of elective procedures. Some staff members and ethicists are voicing concerns.
