PANDEMIC - Updates COVID-19

"Why the U.S. is still ‘severely constrained’ in ability to test for COVID-19" PBS NewsHour 3/30/2020

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SUMMARY:  Despite recent signs of advancement, many health experts say the U.S. capacity to test for the novel coronavirus remains too limited and progress too slow.  President Trump has previously claimed anyone could be tested -- but that isn't what we’re hearing from people who have tried.  Jennifer Nuzzo, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

"‘Everyone is afraid’ as Illinois virus cases spike" PBS NewsHour 3/30/2020

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SUMMARY:  Illinois has become another national hot spot for coronavirus, with a surging number of confirmed cases.  Most are in Cook County, the region that is home to Chicago.  William Brangham talks to Dr. Claudia Fegan, chief medical officer for Cook County Health, about how her employees are holding up amid the stress and why they continue to worry about a shortage of critical medical supplies.

"As more people order delivery, workers fear virus exposure" PBS NewsHour 3/30/2020

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SUMMARY:  More than 250 million Americans in 30 states have been asked or ordered to stay at home.  Although some still buy essentials in person at stores, many are ordering online instead.  As a result, warehouse and delivery workers and professional shoppers have become central to the current economy -- and a growing number are concerned about the risks they face by doing their jobs.  Paul Solman reports.

Editor's Note:  Amazon disputes the claim that dozens of workers walked out in protest on Monday.  According to Amazon, “15 people participated in the demonstration of which only 9 were Amazon associates—the rest were community organizers.”  According to protest leaders, “Organizers on the ground counted 62 workers who walked off their jobs.”

"Why scientists need to learn more about how COVID-19 behaves within a human body" PBS NewsHour 3/31/2020

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SUMMARY:  How much do we know about COVID-19, the virus spreading misery across the globe?  Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss understanding the dynamics of the virus within people it has infected, why some experience much more severe forms of illness than others, how we can limit asymptomatic transmission and the need to buy medical researchers time to develop treatments.

"As New York’s death toll approaches 2,000, Cuomo warns other states of what’s to come" PBS NewsHour 4/1/2020

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SUMMARY:  New York’s death toll from COVID-19 is nearing 2,000, and experts warn it will continue to rise.  But many other areas of the country are also seeing cases climb and taking steps to try to limit them.  President Trump sounded a grave warning during a Tuesday Coronavirus Task Force briefing, saying the virus is projected to kill at least 100,000 Americans in the months to come.  John Yang reports.

"Strategies from hospitals on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight" PBS NewsHour 4/1/2020

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SUMMARY:  COVID-19 is a huge challenge for many U.S. hospitals, from large cities to rural areas.  The next few weeks are expected to be especially difficult, as critical supplies dwindle and health care workers are stressed.  William Brangham talks to Dr. Phillip Coule, chief medical officer for Georgia’s Augusta University Health System, and Michael Dowling, president and CEO of New York's Northwell Health.

"U.S. facing 2-front war amid medical crisis and economic collapse" PBS NewsHour 4/2/2020

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SUMMARY:  The coronavirus pandemic has infected at least 1 million people and killed over 50,000 worldwide.  In the U.S., President Trump is taking new action to bolster medical supplies, and unemployment is surging.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy relieved the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt amid conflict over his response to COVID-19.  John Yang reports, and Nick Schifrin joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

"Stories from Americans suffering the pandemic’s financial fallout" PBS NewsHour 4/2/2020

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SUMMARY:  The loss of jobs caused by the coronavirus pandemic and its fallout is unprecedented in the U.S.  Over 10 million Americans became unemployed in the past two weeks alone -- and economists say there are many more who have not yet been counted.  The NewsHour continues to share the stories of some of those who have been laid off or furloughed, in their own words.

"Will these shuttered restaurants be able to reopen after pandemic?" PBS NewsHour 4/2/2020

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SUMMARY:  A sector of the economy that is being hit especially hard amid the coronavirus pandemic is the restaurant industry.  In normal times, Americans were spending roughly as much money on dining out as they were at grocery stores.  With restaurants now closed, more than 3 millions jobs have been lost nationwide.  Paul Solman reports on the impact on establishments in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

"COVID-19 may not discriminate based on race — but U.S. health care does" PBS NewsHour 4/2/2020

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SUMMARY:  Health officials have stressed that novel coronavirus doesn’t discriminate based on race or ethnicity.  But disparities long present in the U.S. medical system are now driving what some call a crisis within a crisis: black and brown communities across the country are being hit harder, and with fewer resources to save them.  Amna Nawaz talks to Dr. Uché Blackstock of Advancing Health Equity.

"What Dr. Fauci wants you to know about face masks and staying home as virus spreads" PBS NewsHour 4/3/2020

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SUMMARY:  Message:

Americans should wear face masks as a way to help stifle the spread of COVID-19, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s top doctors leading the public health fight against the coronavirus pandemic — a departure from previous government guidance to only wear a mask if you were caring for someone with the illness or had it yourself.

“If everybody does that, we’re each protecting each other,” Fauci said in an interview with PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff.  His comments came shortly before President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force shared national recommendations for people to wear non-medical face masks.  The task force did not recommend the use of surgical or medical grade face masks, which are in short supply for hospitals and front line health care workers.

For months, federal health officials discouraged the use of surgical face masks.  In recent weeks, some health experts began to question that decision, suggesting that the use of face coverings could have helped slow the spread of the virus sooner.  But on Friday, the task force said it was now recommending face coverings “in light of recent studies.” Trump added that this recommendation does not eliminate the need for social distancing.

This guidance comes as more states this week told residents to stay at home to prevent further spread of the virus that causes the disease, COVID-19.  But more states and communities should join in tightening those measures, Fauci said.

He warned that the U.S. is currently “in a very difficult period.  It will get worse before it gets better.”

So far, testing has confirmed roughly 240,000 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., where nearly 5,900 people have died after they were infected by the virus, according to the latest data from The COVID Tracking Project.  Public health experts have said those numbers are likely an undercount because testing remains inadequate, despite being the only way to measure how far the pandemic has spread within the country.

As of Thursday, the pandemic crossed another milestone, now infecting more than 1 million people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers who have been tracking the virus’ global spread.  Fauci said he was confident Americans “will get out of this.”

"For some doctors, pandemic means accelerated career launch — or truncated retirement" PBS NewsHour 4/3/2020

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SUMMARY:  As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the U.S., officials are warning that there are not enough medical professionals available to meet the growing needs of patients.  The shortage has led to the easing of some regulations, enabling medical students to graduate early and retired doctors to return to practice.  Lisa Desjardins shares some of their stories from this all-hands-on-deck moment.

"As the world stays home, will the environment improve?" PBS NewsHour 4/4/2020

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SUMMARY:  As more and more people stay at home during the pandemic, millions of vehicles are no longer on the roads and the skies are comparatively free of airplanes.  Many other human activities that cause air pollution also have been scaled back.  But will this lull in activity make a difference in the air we breathe or the future of climate change?  NewsHour Weekend's Christopher Booker reports.

"What Florida’s stay-at-home order means for residents" PBS NewsHour 4/4/2020

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SUMMARY:  Amid heavy criticism, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday issued a state-wide stay-at-home order for the state in response to the coronavirus.  This came after some local counties and cities had already put similar orders in place ahead of the governor’s mandate.  Stephen Mort of PBS station WUCF joins Hari Sreenivasan from Orlando to discuss what's happening in the state related to the outbreak.