As Broad Shutdowns Return, Weary Californians Ask ‘Is This the Best We Can Do?’
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Jenny Gold
California’s ping-ponging approach to managing the pandemic — twice reopening large portions of the service sector economy only to shut them again — has residents and business owners on edge. But experts say the push and pull on businesses may be what success looks like in much of the U.S. for months to come, given COVID-19’s pervasive spread.
Must-Reads of the Week
By Lauren Weber
KHN’s Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber drills through the vital health care policy stories of the week, so you don’t have to.
How to Weigh Evacuation Options With Both Wildfires and COVID at Your Door
By Jenny Gold
As the twin disasters of COVID-19 and fire season sweep through California, thousands of residents are weighing difficult options, pitting risk against risk as they decide where to evacuate. Amid a virulent pandemic, where can you safely relocate?
Hard Lives Made Harder by COVID: Homeless Endure a ‘Slow-Moving Train Wreck’
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Angela Hart
This was supposed to be the year California finally did something about its homelessness epidemic. COVID-19 upended that promise, along with the cobbled-together services many homeless people rely on for survival. Interviews across the state reveal a new magnitude of hardship and indignity for tens of thousands of people living on the streets.
As COVID Testing Soars, Wait Times For Results Jump To A Week — Or More
By Phil Galewitz
The delays can be excruciating, with some extreme cases running more than 20 days. People getting tested at urgent care centers, community health centers, pharmacies and state-run drive-thru or walk-up sites are often waiting a week or more to find out if they tested positive for the coronavirus.
Efforts To Curb Congenital Syphilis Falter In COVID’s Shadow
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
A new federal report sheds light on the reasons newborn syphilis rates are on the rise despite simple treatment options. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, public health departments will struggle to respond.
Más pruebas para COVID, pero esperas demasiado largas por los resultados
By Phil Galewitz
Con la demanda en alza, los resultados de las pruebas para COVID-19 están tardando hasta 10 días, lo que dificulta los esfuerzos de salud pública para frenar la propagación.
California’s Data Failures Stymie Efforts to Curb the Virus
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Angela Hart
Counties say the ripple effects of the state’s COVID-19 data failures are impeding their ability to slow the spread of the coronavirus, even as they must make life-or-death decisions about business and school reopenings.
Essential and in Danger: Coronavirus Sickens, Even Kills Public Health Workers
By Laura Ungar
As the coronavirus threatens the nation’s public health army, an outbreak in Maryland reflects the tension between serving the community and protecting workers from a deadly disease.
Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Fly Free as Health Departments Focus on Coronavirus
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Lauren Weber
Health departments and other public agencies tasked with protecting the nation from disease-carrying mosquitoes are overstretched amid the coronavirus pandemic — even as the nation is told it’s safest to be outside.
