Study: Better Controls, Not Testing, Crucial to Worker Safety During Pandemic
Certain areas of the country are experiencing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, while other areas, including the Northeast, have been enjoying a lull in their positive case numbers. However, as colder weather sets in and the population is driven inside, the number of cases is expected to rise as indoor face-to-face interactions increase.
Coronavirus: Nursing Home Study Finds Alarming Shortages of Staff and PPE
Through July, nearly half of the country’s COVID-19 deaths had occurred in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities, with 60,000 deaths. The virus also has taken a heavy toll on long-term care healthcare workers, with 760 deaths through July.
Wear a Mask. If Only It Were That Simple.
After analyzing comprehensive data on mask policies, researchers led by Chris Adolph, a professor of political science and statistics, found that having a Republican governor would predict a 30-day delay in recommending mask policies. In a state that is also ideologically conservative, the delay would be closer to 40 days. A state’s death rate or infection rate had a much weaker influence.
5 AMA Resources to Promote Physician Wellbeing
Research published in September 2018 indicated that nearly half of physicians nationwide were experiencing burnout symptoms. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new burdens on physicians, including high mortality among coronavirus patients, and worry over contracting the virus and infecting family members.
Coronavirus: Virtual Hospital at Home Program Used for Low-Acuity Patients
Although there are therapeutics for treating seriously ill COVID-19 patients in the inpatient setting—remdesivir and dexamethasone—there are no therapeutics that have been found effective in treating coronavirus patients in the outpatient setting. Given that limitation, monitoring low-acuity COVID-19 patients at home is a viable option.
Study: COVID-19 Death Count Doesn’t Capture ‘True Mortality Effects’
A study by researchers at the University of South Florida and published in the Journal of Public Health suggests that measuring “years of life lost” is a better metric than deaths, because it accounts for the range of ages of the people who’ve died from COVID-19.
Signs of an ‘October Vaccine Surprise’ Alarm Career Scientists
In podcasts, public forums, social media and medical journals, a growing number of prominent health leaders say they fear that President Trump — who has repeatedly signaled his desire for the swift approval of a vaccine and his displeasure with perceived delays at the FDA — will take matters into his own hands, running roughshod over the usual regulatory process.
OSHA Fines Hospitals for PPE Failures Related to COVID-19
Bergen New Bridge Medical Center is facing $9,639 in proposed penalties after OSHA inspectors cited the hospital in Paramus, New Jersey, for “failing to fit test tight-fitting face piece respirators on employees who were required to use them.
TJC Releases Advice to Protect Well-Being of Healthcare Workers During Pandemic
The accreditor has joined the fight for protecting the mental and physical well-being of healthcare workers by releasing a guide designed to help staff support themselves, as well as help managers support them during the tough times of the pandemic, which is likely to stretch well into 2021 and perhaps beyond.
Researchers Detail Challenges of Determining Coronavirus Mortality
The United States has had the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases and deaths. As of Sept. 18, there were more than 6.8 million COVID-19 cases and more than 202,000 deaths reported in the United States, according to worldometer.