Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'I Am Dipping Myself Into The Swamp Every Day': For Health Care Professionals There's No Option To Practice Social Distancing
After her shifts in the emergency room, one doctor in Utah strips naked on her porch and runs straight to a shower, trying not to contaminate her home. In Oregon, an emergency physician talks of how he was recently bent over a drunk teenager, stapling a head wound, when he realized with a sudden chill that the patient had a fever and a cough. A doctor in Washington State woke up one night not long ago with nightmares of being surrounded by coughing patients. (Weise, 3/16)
Shortly before midnight on Thursday, the author Shea Serrano was at his home in San Antonio, lying comfortably on his sofa watching television. He could not shake a bad feeling about all the low-wage and hourly workers losing desperately needed tips and shifts because of the coronavirus outbreak. He felt he needed to do something. So he tweeted. (Kulish, 3/16)
EO Products, a Bay Area maker of bath and body products, has quadrupled production of its high-end hand sanitizer. It is running extra shifts, speeding up lines, hiring temporary workers and converting factory lines designed for other products to make hand sanitizer instead. It still can鈥檛 keep up. Customers call, sometimes in tears, begging for a few bottles they say they need to care for sick relatives. Retailers, facing an unprecedented surge in demand, are rationing as they try to restock bare shelves. A parts shortage with no workaround almost halted production on the factory floor. (Terlep, 3/16)
A Pennsylvania distillery owner who grew increasingly angry as he saw the skyrocketing price of hand sanitizer has decided to do something about it: He鈥檚 temporarily converting his operation into a production line for the suddenly hard-to-find, gooey, alcohol-based disinfectant. (3/16)
The text messages have largely followed a pattern: The author claims to have a connection to someone working at a clinic or government agency 鈥 an aunt, a neighbor, a friend鈥檚 cousin 鈥 who has revealed unannounced plans for an impending lockdown or quarantine. They鈥檙e passing along a warning, telling recipients of the urgent need to stockpile food, gas, medicine or other necessities. They often contain pleas that they be forwarded to others. (Zaveri, 3/16)
There is nothing like a crisis to bring out con artists seeking to take advantage of the vulnerable and the unwary.With the nation in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, officials are warning of possible scams to bilk you out of money or steal your information. (Gambardello, 3/16)
Hotels have always been in the business of providing a good night鈥檚 rest, but a growing number of brands are adding tools to help guests chill out and get to sleep. And that was before the anxiety caused by the coronavirus. 鈥淲ell-being is top of mind for everyone today, and we think that鈥檚 going to continue in the future,鈥 said Mia Kyricos, senior vice president and global head of well-being at Hyatt Hotels. 鈥淚f you think about the world we live in now, it鈥檚 24/7. We increasingly have demands in work and life.鈥 (White, 3/16)
As COVID-19 continues to spread鈥攁long with virus-induced closures, cancellations and social isolation鈥攑hysical health is hardly the only concern. Mental health and addiction services providers have been given new guidance from the state on telehealth services at a time when demand is growing and could reach unprecedented levels. (Henderson, 3/16)