Eighteen rural hospitals closed last year and the first three months of 2020 were “really big months,” said Mark Holmes, director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Many of the losses are in Southern states like Florida and Texas. More than 170 rural hospitals have closed nationwide since 2005, according to data collected by the Sheps Center.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 this year already has surpassed the number of preventable deaths in calendar year 2018. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. COVID-19 currently is widespread in most U.S. communities and considered a workplace hazard.

The new research, which was published by JAMA Internal Medicine, tested the fitted filtration efficiency of 29 fitted facemasks. The fitted facemasks included N95 respirator masks, surgical masks with ties, and procedure masks with ear loops.

The new survey, which was conducted online from July 28 to August 9 by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), features data collected from 4,000 nurse practitioner respondents. This is the second survey AANP has conducted during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals in New York City struggled mightily to cope with an epic surge of coronavirus patients. Across the country, the pandemic has strained supply chains for critically important materials and equipment such as personal protective equipment and ventilators.

During the next two months, vaccine makers hope to recruit 60,000 Americans to roll up their sleeves to test the two vaccines, one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, a German company, and the other by biotech startup Moderna. While small tests earlier this year showed the preventives were safe and led to participants developing antibodies against the virus, the final phase 3 testing is designed to prove whether the vaccine reduces the risk of infection.

The study findings follow other research showing that minority healthcare workers are likely to care for minority patients in their own communities, often in facilities with fewer resources. Those workers may also see a higher share of sick patients, as federal data shows minority patients were disproportionately testing positive and being hospitalized with the virus, said Dr. Utibe Essien, a physician and core investigator for the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion in the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

Respiratory therapists have been in short supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. A study published in 2015 identified the supply of ventilators and the staff to manage them as a weak point in the U.S. healthcare sector’s capability to function effectively during a public health crisis.