Editorial pages focus on these pandemic issues and others.
The Wall Street Journal: After Coronavirus, Nursing Homes Need More Scrutiny The coronavirus pandemic has hit nursing homes especially hard. In the New York City borough of Queens, at least 760 seniors have died in nursing homes. In New Jersey, 17 bodies were discovered in a nursing home’s morgue. In Rochester, N.Y., a nursing-home owner failed to report to authorities the names of at least seven people who died, as required by federal regulations. In Washington state, where the virus first landed, 43 patients died in one nursing home alone. The Journal reported last week that in New York state 3,505 nursing-home residents had perished, nearly one-fourth of total deaths from the virus. Visitors have been prohibited, which protects patients but also prevents the outside world from knowing what’s going on. In Hornell, N.Y., a nurse was fired after refusing to share personal protective equipment with other staffers. (Andrew Stein, 4/27)
The Washington Post: Nursing Homes Are Flying Blind During A Pandemic. They Deserve Better. More than a fifth of the 55,000 known COVID-19 deaths in the United States have occurred at nursing homes and other elder-care facilities. Federal and state governments have largely turned a blind eye, often making no effort to test residents or staffs and leaving relatives, surrounding communities and the public in the dark. In at least a half-dozen states — most notably Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana — officials have refused to make public the names of facilities wracked by the virus, even as residents and employees there are dying. The states’ nominal reason for their secrecy, privacy protections for institutions, is akin to refusing to identify an airline whose plane has crashed. (4/27)
The New York Times: Nursing Homes Were A Coronavirus Disaster Waiting To HappenIt was clear almost from the outset that the elderly and frail were in the greatest danger from Covid-19. And it was clear to anyone familiar with American nursing homes that these facilities would not be up to the task of protecting their older and infirm residents. As of Thursday, Covid-19 has killed over 10,000 residents and staff members in long-term-care facilities in 23 states that report fatality data, about 27 percent of the Covid-19 deaths in those states, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The weaknesses in inpatient care and oversight at nursing homes that made those deaths more likely were longstanding, widespread, and well known. (Richard Mollot, 4/28)
Modern Healthcare: Ongoing COVID-19 Crisis Calls For Federal Special Enrollment PeriodBeing uninsured is more than just a source of personal anxiety. In a time of pandemic, being uninsured is a threat to public health. According to media accounts, some Americans who are uninsured or underinsured are afraid to seek testing and treatment for COVID-19, because they worry about the financial impact of testing and treatment. When they avoid these medical interventions, they can unknowingly hasten the spread of coronavirus. That is why our two organizations—the Association for Community Affiliated Plans and the Alliance of Community Health Plans—last month asked the Trump administration to establish a special enrollment period during the COVID-19 national emergency, opening individual market coverage to anyone who needs it. And absent action by the administration we urge Congress to take this simple, consequential step to help flatten and bend the curve of the deadly virus nationwide. (Margaret Murray and Ceci Connolly, 4/27)
Stat: The Right Words Matter When Talking About Advance Directives We are being told to do a lot of things these days: Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. Wear a mask outside. Stock the house with two weeks of food. Dust off your will. And make sure to complete your advance directive and talk to the people who matter in your life about your wishes for end-of-life care. (Anna Gosline, 4/28)
Bangor Daily News: An Advance Directive Gives You Control Over Your Medical Care Few of us want to consider suffering a serious medical emergency and the potential end of our lives, as well as what type of medical care we’ll need and want at that point. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to such situations and the importance of making decisions before you and your family may be forced to make difficult choices. (4/25)
Las Vegas Sun: If Only It Were Just Satire: Trump’s Advice Is Endangering His FollowersThroughout history, disease outbreaks, and dangerously fake cures have gone hand in hand. But thanks to breakthroughs in medical science, the public became better enlightened on such quackery and better informed about how to protect themselves from it. Now, however, comes Donald Trump, a president who would turn back the clock to the Dark Ages. With his insane ramblings last week about curing COVID-19 by ingesting or injecting disinfectant or by zapping the body with ultraviolet light, Trump revealed his nonexistent knowledge of medicine and health. And showed beyond a doubt that he’s incapable of leading the fight against the coronavirus. (4/28)
The Hill: The UK Allows Home Use Of The Abortion Pill — The US Should Do The Same In late March, the United Kingdom issued new guidance authorizing physicians to provide medication abortion pills to those wishing to end their pregnancies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The change was immediately embraced by the public and by British abortion providers who know home use is a safe and effective way to experience an early abortion. (Susan F. Wood and Cynthia Pearson, 4/27)
Des Moines Register: Children Are Feeling Coronavirus Pain And Need Care More Than EverThe disruption in routine can also lead to behavior changes. For younger children, that can mean less sleep, more tantrums, and bed-wetting. For older children, it can manifest in feelings of sadness, anxiety, and hopelessness. With studies showing the mental health of U.S. teens and young adults dramatically declining over the past decade, it’s important that we continue to check in with our children to talk about how they’re doing and what they’re experiencing. With children and adolescents now home from child care and schools, the only person outside the household who has eyes on them maybe their doctor. That is why well-child visits must continue for all children and youth, even in areas where the visit must be done through telemedicine. (Sara "Sally" Goza and Dr. Patrice Harris, 4/28)
CNN: What Matters: This Is What Coronavirus Capitalism Looks Like Covid-19 continues to awkwardly expose the weird morality of American capitalism, where it's OK for companies to swarm for government help while individual families and small businesses struggle. Consider the strange case of Tyson Foods. The meat giant warned in a full-page ad published Sunday in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the food supply is in jeopardy, not because of a lack of food, but because of the safety concerns that have shut down its plants. (Zachary B. Wolf, 4/28)
Los Angeles Times: Sports Can Be Our National Healer After Coronavirus Pandemic Ends Only four major sporting events — if you count the Westminster Kennel Club dog show as sport — have never been interrupted by civil strife, including the Great Depression, the 1918 flu pandemic and both world wars. Both the dog show and the Rose Bowl have already been staged this year. That leaves the 2020 Kentucky Derby and the Boston Marathon, both rescheduled for September. In their long histories, the derby and the marathon have had date changes, so their uninterrupted records won’t require asterisks if they take place as planned. They will survive the coronavirus pandemic and go on as before, perhaps with even more celebration and resilience. And with the help of spectator sports, so will we. (Larry Olmsted, 4/28)
This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
