#while closing public health centers and understaffing hospitals

[fuckyeahilike]

I love you, Iceland

October 24, 2023

HUSAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Schools, shops, banks and Iceland’s famous swimming pools shut on Tuesday as women in the volcanic island nation — including the prime minister — went on strike to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence.

Icelanders awoke to all-male news teams announcing shutdowns across the country, with public transport delayed, hospitals understaffed and hotel rooms uncleaned. Trade unions, the strike’s main organizers, called on women and nonbinary people to refuse paid and unpaid work, including chores. About 90% of the country’s workers belong to a union.

Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdóttir said she would stay home as part of the strike — “kvennaverkfall” in Icelandic — and expected other women in her Cabinet would do the same.

Iceland, a rugged island of around 380,000 people just below the Arctic Circle, has been ranked as the world’s most gender-equal country 14 years in a row by the World Economic Forum, which measures pay, education, health care and other factors.

No country has achieved full equality, and there remains a gender pay gap in Iceland.

Tuesday’s walkout, running from midnight to midnight, was billed as the biggest since Iceland’s first such event on Oct. 24, 1975, when 90% of women refused to work, clean or look after children, to voice anger at discrimination in the workplace.

In 1976, Iceland passed a law guaranteeing equal rights irrespective of gender. Since then there have been several partial-day strikes, most recently in 2018, with women walking off the job in the early afternoon, symbolizing the time of day when women, on average, stop earning compared to men.

Iceland’s chools and the health system, which have female-dominated workforces, said they would be heavily affected. National broadcaster RUV said it was reducing television and radio broadcasts for the day, and reported that only one bank branch in the country was open.

Gatherings on Tuesday were held across Iceland, the largest in Reykjavik, where much of the capital’s center was closed to traffic and tens of thousands gathered on the grassy Arnarhóll hill for a rally.

Speakers listed grim facts about economic inequality and sexual violence in Iceland, ending by asking, “You call that equality?” The crowd thundered back: “No!”

“We have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023,” Jakobsdóttir told news website mbl.is. “We are still tackling gender-based violence, which has been a priority for my government to tackle.”

Jakobsdóttir’s Cabinet is evenly split between male and female ministers, and nearly half of lawmakers in Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, are women.

But while women in Iceland have pushed or broken the glass ceiling to top jobs — from bishop to leaders of the national wrestling association — the lowest-paying jobs, such as cleaning and child care, are still predominantly done by women.

The work, essential to Iceland’s tourism-dominated economy, also depends heavily on immigrants, who on the whole work longer hours and take home the lowest salaries. Around 22% of the female workforce is foreign-born, according to Statistics Iceland.

“Foreign women are more vulnerable,” said Alice Clarke, an artist and designer from Canada who has lived in Iceland for 30 years. “Hopefully what is being done today will help to change that.”

Iceland’s 1975 strike inspired similar protests in other countries including Poland, where women boycotted jobs and classes in 2016 to protest a proposed abortion ban. In Spain, women staged a 24-hour strike in 2018 on March 8, International Women’s Day, under the theme “If we stop, the world stops.”

Spain’s acting equality minister, Irene Montero, said Tuesday that the 2018 strike was inspired by Iceland’s 1975 walkout and expressed full support for the latest protest.

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

today i saw so many instagram stories of people going to the public health manifestation 😭. maybe there is hope after all

[newstfionline]

Monday, October 19, 2020

As the Coronavirus Surges, a New Culprit Emerges: Pandemic Fatigue (NYT) When the coronavirus began sweeping around the globe this spring, people from Seattle to Rome to London canceled weddings and vacations, cut off visits with grandparents and hunkered down in their homes for what they thought would be a brief but essential period of isolation. But summer did not extinguish the virus. And with fall has come another dangerous, uncontrolled surge of infections that in parts of the world is the worst of the pandemic so far. The virus has taken different paths as leaders have tried to tamp down the spread with a range of restrictions. Shared, though, is a public weariness and a growing tendency to risk the dangers of the coronavirus, out of desire or necessity: With no end in sight, many people are flocking to bars, family parties, bowling alleys and sporting events much as they did before the virus hit, and others must return to school or work as communities seek to resuscitate economies. And in sharp contrast to the spring, the rituals of hope and unity that helped people endure the first surge of the virus have given way to exhaustion and frustration. Researchers from the World Health Organization estimate that about half of the population is experiencing “pandemic fatigue.” One New Yorker summed it up: “I am so tired of everything. Is it going to be over? I want it to be over.”

Biden and Trump Say They’re Fighting for America’s ‘Soul.’ (NYT) It is a phrase that has been constantly invoked by Democratic and Republican leaders. It has become the clearest symbol of the mood of the country, and what people feel is at stake in November. Everyone, it seems, is fighting for it. “This campaign isn’t just about winning votes. It’s about winning the heart and, yes, the soul of America,” Joseph R. Biden Jr. said in August at the Democratic National Convention, not long after the phrase “battle for the soul of America” appeared at the top of his campaign website, right next to his name. Picking up on this, a recent Trump campaign ad spliced videos of Democrats invoking “the soul” of America, followed by images of clashes between protesters and the police and the words “Save America’s Soul,” with a request to text “SOUL” to make a campaign contribution. That the election has become a referendum on the soul of the nation, suggests that in an increasingly secular country, voting has become a reflection of one’s individual morality—and that the outcome hinges in part on spiritual and philosophical questions that transcend politics: What, exactly, is the soul of the nation? What is the state of it? And what would it mean to save it?

Spanish demonstrators call for prosecution of former king (Reuters) Waving red, purple and yellow republican flags, demonstrators in 24 Spanish cities on Sunday called for the prosecution of the former king Juan Carlos who left Spain embroiled in controversy. The 82-year-old former monarch has been living in the United Arab Emirates since leaving Spain in August to avoid further embarrassing his son, King Felipe VI. While not formally under investigation, Juan Carlos could become a target in two inquiries in Spain and Switzerland into alleged corruption associated with a 6.7-billion-euro (£6.1 billion), high-speed Saudi train contract won by Spanish firms.

Covid-19’s first wave largely missed southern Italy. The second wave is hitting it hard. (Washington Post) When northern Italy became the epicenter of the pandemic in the spring, one urgent concern was that the country’s coronavirus outbreak would quickly spread to the less-prosperous south and overwhelm under-resourced regional health systems. That fear wasn’t realized. A strict nationwide lockdown largely contained the virus in the north and brought the outbreak under control. But now the virus is raging again, through Europe and through Italy, with a spike that is again hitting the north but this time also the south. In Campania, which includes Naples, the daily number of detected new cases is five times larger than March’s peak. Compared with six months ago, there is more space to accommodate critical patients in southern Italy. There are more ventilators. Still, many hospitals in the south remain understaffed and have fewer beds per capita than those in the north. They could reach a breaking point if the number of critical patients soars.

Tens of thousands march in Belarus despite firearms threat (Reuters) Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the Belarusian capital Minsk on Sunday to demand the resignation of veteran president Alexander Lukashenko, despite a threat by officials to use firearms against protesters. Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with Russia, has been rocked by strikes and weekly street protests since authorities announced that Lukashenko, who has ruled in authoritarian fashion since 1994, had secured re-election on Aug. 9 with 80% of votes. The Interfax news agency put the number of protesters at over 30,000. It said about 50 had been detained by the police, and that the mobile broadband signal had been disrupted in parts of the city. It also said loud noises that sounded like stun grenades had been heard close to the march. A senior police official said last week that officers would reserve the right to use firearms against demonstrators.

Russia shuns tough restrictions even as infections soar (AP) It’s Friday night in Moscow, and popular bars and restaurants in the city center are packed. No one except the staff is wearing a mask or bothers to keep their distance. There is little indication at all that Russia is being swept by a resurgence of coronavirus infections. “I believe that everyone will have the disease eventually,” says Dr. Alexandra Yerofeyeva, an internal medicine specialist at an insurance company, while sipping a cocktail at The Bix bar in Moscow. She adds cheerfully: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” The outbreak in Russia this month is breaking the records set in the spring, when a lockdown to slow the spread of the virus was put in place. But, as governments across Europe move to reimpose restrictions to counter rising cases, authorities in Russia are resisting shutting down businesses again. The spring lockdown hurt the country’s already weakened economy and compounded Russians’ frustration with plummeting incomes and worsening living conditions, driving Putin’s approval rating to a historic low of 59% in April, according to the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster. Analysts say his government doesn’t want to return to those darks days. “They know that people have just come to the end of their tolerance of the lockdown measures that would be hugely unpopular if they got imposed again,” said Judy Twigg, a professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, specializing in global health.

China Warns U.S. It May Detain Americans in Response to Prosecutions of Chinese Scholars (WSJ) Chinese government officials are warning their American counterparts they may detain U.S. nationals in China in response to the Justice Department’s prosecution of Chinese military-affiliated scholars, according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese officials have issued the warnings to U.S. government representatives repeatedly and through multiple channels, the people said, including through the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The Chinese message, the people said, has been blunt: The U.S. should drop prosecutions of the Chinese scholars in American courts, or Americans in China might find themselves in violation of Chinese law. China started issuing the warning this summer after the U.S. began arresting a series of Chinese scientists, who were visiting American universities to conduct research, and charged them with concealing from U.S. immigration authorities their active duty statuses with the People’s Liberation Army, the people said. Chinese authorities have on occasion detained foreign nationals in moves seen by their governments as baseless, or in some instances as diplomatic retaliation, a tactic that many in Washington policy circles have referred to as “hostage diplomacy.”

Thailand’s king faces trouble on two continents (Los Angeles Times) The scion of one of the world’s most privileged families, he wrapped himself in the trappings of royalty, wealth and a comfortable hideaway thousands of miles from his subjects. For Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the cocoon has come undone with remarkable speed. Last week in Berlin, the German government faced questions in Parliament over the king’s legal status in Bavaria, where he resides. Then, visiting Thailand this week to mark the fourth anniversary of his father’s death, the king’s family came face-to-face with pro-democracy protesters agitating for limits on his power. The reverence long demanded of Thailand’s monarchy is breaking down in ways big and small. Thais are refusing to stand for the royal anthem in movie theaters, lampooning the king in Facebook groups and openly questioning his immense wealth and spending. The scrutiny he is now facing in Germany is an added nuisance for a 68-year-old king who has long treated his adopted home as a playground. As the only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who reigned for 70 years, Vajiralongkorn was destined to inherit the throne. But since about 2007 he has spent most of his time in Germany, where the tabloid press has followed his exploits with relish. He was pictured wearing a tight-fitting crop top over an otherwise bare torso while getting on a ski lift, and covered in temporary tattoos during an excursion to a Munich mall.

New Zealand’s Ardern credits virus response for election win (AP) A day after winning a second term in a landside victory, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Sunday she sees the election result as an endorsement of her government’s efforts to stamp out the coronavirus and reboot the economy. In the election, Ardern’s liberal Labour Party got 49% of the vote, crushing the conservative National Party, which got 27%. Ardern said the margin of the victory exceeded their expectations. Asked what she would say to those Americans who may draw inspiration from her win ahead of the U.S. elections, Ardern said she hoped people globally could move past the partisan divisions that elections often accentuate. “That can be damaging for democracy, regardless of the side of the House that you sit on,” she said.

As lockdown eases, Israelis again gather against Netanyahu (AP) Thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night, resuming the weekly protest against the Israeli leader after emergency restrictions imposed as part of a coronavirus lockdown were lifted. The protesters gathered in central Jerusalem and marched to Netanyahu’s official residence, holding banners calling on him to go and shouting “Revolution!” Many blew horns and pounded on drums, while others hoisted Israeli flags. Scores of smaller demonstrations were held across the country, and organizers claimed some 260,000 people participated nationwide. The protesters say Netanyahu must resign, calling him unfit to lead the country while he is on trial for corruption charges. They also say he has mishandled the virus crisis, which has sent unemployment soaring. Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes for his role in a series of scandals. He has denied the charges and said he is the victim of a conspiracy by overzealous police and prosecutors and a liberal media.

Uganda’s ‘taxi divas’ rise from COVID-19’s economic gloom (AP) Uganda’s new all-female ride-hailing service is called Diva Taxi. The taxi service, dreamed up by a local woman who lost her logistics job at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, was launched in June and has recruited over 70 drivers. They range from college students to mothers hoping to make good use of their secondhand Toyotas. “It started off as a joke, supported by close friends and family, but eventually the idea picked up,” said company spokeswoman Rebecca Makyeli. “They said, ‘Why not? As ladies, you know we can no longer slay on Instagram on the outside, so why don’t we slay as divas with a cause.’ So we called it Diva Taxi.” It’s uncommon to find women taxi drivers in Uganda, a socially conservative East African country where most women labor on farms or pursue work in the informal sector. Diva Taxi believes countless women are looking for job opportunities at a time of severe economic distress. The Diva Taxi app has been downloaded at least 500 times, and each of the company’s 72 drivers makes an average of 30 rides each week. The company expects to have 2,000 active users by the end of this year, a modest target in a city of over 3 million people where taxis and passenger motorcycles are the main means of transport for the working class. “We love what we are doing and it’s really fun,” said founder Kobusingye, an occasional driver herself. “I can’t wait to partner with every woman out there that’s willing to be part of Diva Taxi.”

Nigerian army plans nationwide exercise as protests rock country (Reuters) The Nigerian army will begin a two-month national exercise, it said on Saturday, while denying the move was part of any security response to recent widespread demonstrations against alleged police brutality. Operation Crocodile Smile would run across the country from Oct. 20 to Dec. 31, the first time the annual exercise, typically concentrated in the Delta region, will be nationwide, army spokesman Sagir Musa said. The move comes just days after the army said it was ready to step in and restore order, but Musa said in a statement that the exercise “has no relationship with any lawful protest under any guise whatsoever”. Nigerians demanding an end to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit and pressing for reforms and accountability have been rallying across the country. The army had on Wednesday issued a statement warning what it termed “subversive elements and trouble makers” that it was “ready to fully support the civil authority in whatever capacity to maintain law and order and deal with any situation decisively”.

[seedfinance]

Groups Urge Biden, Congress to Bolster Health Sector Cyber

Critical Infrastructure Security, Cybercrime, Cybercrime as-a-Service

Want more funding, awareness and support for health care safety

Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (HealthInfoSec) • June 10, 2021

As the federal government drafts national infrastructure laws, implements President Biden’s latest cybersecurity ordinance, and adopts other related initiatives, more attention and funding needs to be allocated to strengthen the health sector’s cybersecurity position and resilience, some industry groups are calling for.

See also: Live Panel | Given zero trusts – harness the value of the strategy

In a letter addressed to Biden on Wednesday, but also copied and sent to party leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, the Health and Public Health Coordinating Council called for increased industry-government cooperation to establish a roadmap for improving the Provide cybersecurity readiness of the healthcare sector.

HSCC, a private sector critical infrastructure advisory board for the Department of Health and Human Services, established by Presidential Policy 21 during the Obama administration in 2013, represents more than 300 health sector organizations, including patient care networks, health plans, laboratories and health providers -IT.

Overlooked health sector

While HSCC writes that it is pleased that the recently passed US rescue plan is channeling $ 650 million to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency for programs to contain cybersecurity risks, none of the funds are aimed directly at helping the health sector to help, notes HSCC (see Modernization Grants Will Prioritize Cybersecurity).

HSCC urges the von Biden government to work more closely together to improve cybersecurity in healthcare.

“In evaluating how the US rescue plan, coupled with the recently published Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity, can measurably strengthen health system security, resilience and patient safety, we call for an improved strategic planning process within the administration that will support the ongoing cybersecurity partnership between the HSCC, the Department of Health and Human Services and other key government partners, “the letter reads.

Growing threats

Greg Garcia, Executive Director of HSCC, announces to Information Security Media Group that, as the healthcare risk management agency, HHS is “underserved to support and complement industry and CISA efforts in healthcare cybersecurity risk management and response” .

At the same time, there is apparently a lack of a strong understanding or intense interest in the gloomy cyber challenges of the healthcare system in some corners of the congress, he says.

For example, on Wednesday during a Senate Committee confirmation hearing for Dawn O’Connell, Biden’s nominee for HHS Deputy Secretary for Preparedness and Response, or ASPR – the office that works with the health sector on critical infrastructure readiness and emergency issues Responsible is the answer – “I haven’t heard any questions from committee members to the candidate on cybersecurity,” he notes.

“As our partnerships with HHS and DHS mature and benefit the sector, we are asking for a booster. We need to jointly develop a strategic plan for cybersecurity in healthcare as a mandatory requirement for a critical infrastructure, ”he says.

According to Garcia, the healthcare industry is facing relentless cybersecurity threats that have increased in scale and complexity year on year. For example, in the past few months and weeks, many hospitals, large and small, have been hit by ransomware and other cyberattacks that have disrupted patient care and compromised access to patient records. (See: Security Incident Causes Scripps Health To Postpone Patient Care.)

“These threats to technology essential to patient care have only increased as the pandemic has continued, particularly with the spread of ransomware attacks,” he says.

Constant attacks

In fact, a recent study by security firm Bitglass found healthcare cyber incidents to increase by 55% in 2020, notes HSCC in its letter to Biden.

“Our members are constantly being attacked by increasingly sophisticated criminals, many of whom are opposing nation-states,” Mari Savickis, vice president of public order at the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, or CHIME, who represents CISOs and CIOs in health care, told ISMG.

“Healthcare cybersecurity threats pose a real threat to patient safety – bottom line. Health care providers – even those bigger with more advanced cybersecurity programs – need help, ”she says.

Congress action

On the legislative front, CHIME and its members are pleased with a bill signed in January that requires HHS to consider the safety practices of affected companies and business partners before making decisions about fines for violating HIPAA safety rules, she notes (see: Bill Formulates New Factors to Consider When Setting HIPAA Fines).

“As we wait for HHS to announce rules, we are thrilled to hear that HHS is being called upon to recognize healthcare providers for adhering to recognized security practices to deter cyberattacks,” she said.

However, other legislative measures to help the health sector strengthen its cybersecurity position are urgently needed, she added.

For example, CHIME supports “incentives” that “would help less resourceful providers such as smaller healthcare facilities replace vulnerable old devices that are no longer supported by manufacturers,” says Savickis.

More help for HHS

Critical groups within HHS – including ASPR and the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center, or HC3 – will need additional funding to support the health sector as a whole in its cybersecurity efforts, says Savickis.

“Not only do we want more funding for HHS ASPR – the emergency response arm – we want more funding for HC3,” she says.

“They’re a national asset and have the potential to do a lot more, but they need a special stream of funding.”

According to Savickis, HHS developed HC3 to identify, correlate and communicate cybersecurity information in the healthcare and public health sectors, as well as within HHS and its government partners.

HC3 “also facilitates access to the knowledge-based resources necessary to support robust cybersecurity programs and mitigate security breaches,” she says.

“However, HC3 is understaffed and mostly contractors. With additional funding, HC3 could better support the health sector, including guidance and expertise on critical infrastructure, research and planning, exercises, and most importantly, crisis response. “

As for Biden’s executive order, while comprehensive, “most directions are aimed inward to strengthen the federal government’s own systems” rather than helping the health sector strengthen its cybersecurity, Savickis says.

source https://seedfinance.net/2021/07/17/groups-urge-biden-congress-to-bolster-health-sector-cyber/

[stephenmccull]

Riding Herd on Mental Health in Colorado Ranching Country

[Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in a crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. In Colorado, you can also contact Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-TALK (8255) or text TALK to 38255.]

KIOWA, Colo. — The yellow-and-green facade of Patty Ann’s Cafe stands out on the main street of this ranching community just 25 miles from the Denver suburbs. Before the pandemic, the cafe was a place for ranchers to gather for meals and to swap stories.

This story also ran on People.com. It can be republished for free.

“Some people would call it almost like a conference room,” said Lance Wheeler, a local rancher and regular at the cafe. “There are some guys that, if you drive by Patty Ann’s at a certain time of day, their car or truck will always be there on certain days.”

When covid-19 restrictions closed in-person dining across Colorado last year, Patty Ann’s opened a takeout window. Customers spread their food on the hoods of their trucks and ate there while sharing news and commiserating over the stresses of ranching during the pandemic.

Keeping that community hub operating has been vital for the ranchers around Kiowa as the pandemic takes its toll on mental health in agricultural communities where health providers are scarce and a “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” mentality is prevalent.

The pandemic over the past year has been a surprising boon for many farms and ranches as higher consumer demand amid food shortages has boosted business.

But coupled with everyday worries about weather and commodity prices, the pandemic also has led to mental health challenges, including serious stress, anxiety and depression among farmers and ranchers, health officials said. The American Farm Bureau Federation found that about 3 in 5 rural adults reported that the pandemic has affected mental health in their communities, while two-thirds of farmers and farmworkers said the pandemic has impacted their mental health.

Treatment for mental health problems caused or worsened by the stress and isolation of the pandemic has obstacles particular to ranching and farming country. The stigma of acknowledging the need for mental health care can prevent people from seeking it. For those who overcome that obstacle and look for help, they are likely to find underfunded, understaffed and underequipped health providers who often don’t have the bandwidth or expertise for sufficient mental health support.

“I guess my cows are my therapists,” joked Wheeler. The 54-year-old rancher said he has felt the stress of the added responsibility of providing meat to customers in a time of food shortages, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic. But he feels lucky to have a family that supports him.

Similar to other Rocky Mountain states, Colorado has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. The rates are often worse in the state’s rural communities, a factor consistent with rural Americans’ risks nationwide: A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report examining 2001-15 data found the suicide rate in rural counties was more than 17 per 100,000 people, compared with about 15 per 100,000 in small and medium-sized metro counties and about 12 per 100,000 in large metro counties.

Kiowa is in Elbert County, whose 1,850 square miles of mostly dusty, flat plains start where the affluent bedroom communities of Denver end. The county has no urgent care center or hospital like its suburban neighbors, just four clinics to serve a population of 27,000.

Dwayne Smith, Elbert County’s public health director, said that to help solve the problem residents need to talk with their health providers as candidly about their mental health challenges as about skin cancer or heart disease.

“In a more conservative community, where historically mental health issues may not have been talked about as openly and as comfortably as in the [Denver] area, you have to work diligently to increase people’s comfort level,” Smith said. “Even saying the words ‘anxiety,’ ‘depression,’ ‘mental health’ — all those things that in prior generations were very much a taboo subject.”

The public health crisis is just an added burden to the already high stress on people in the agricultural industry. “Farmers and ranchers are absorbing a lot of the shocks to the system for us: hailstorms, pest outbreaks, drought, markets — they’re adjusting for all that to keep food production moving,” said Colorado’s agriculture commissioner, Kate Greenberg.

Unpredictable weather, a volatile commodity market and a 700-acre grass fire cost Laura Negley, a rancher in the southeastern town of Eads, a lot of income around 2012. Negley’s and her husband’s families have been in agriculture since the late 1600s and early 1700s, and they are now the third generation on the same Colorado land.

But she was devastated after those losses, followed by her youngest child’s departure for college. “That’s kind of when the wheels fell off for me. And then I kind of spiraled down,” Negley said.

Negley, now 59, said she initially didn’t recognize she needed help even though she was deep into her “dark place” of depression and anxiety, but her brother encouraged her to see a counselor near him in Greeley. So, when the cattle were done grazing for the season, Negley spent six winter weeks getting counseling 200 miles north. Those visits eventually transitioned to phone counseling and an anti-anxiety medication.

“I do think you have to have a support group,” said Negley, who said her faith has helped her, too.

Over the years, slashed budgets to local health departments have cut to the bone. In Elbert County, Smith is one of just three full-time employees in his department. About 15 years ago, it had at least six nurses. It now has none. It is trying to hire one.

“We have a lack of health providers” in rural America, Negley said. “The ones we do have are doing their best — but they’re trying to wear multiple hats.”

Agencies in Colorado recognize the need to improve mental health services offered to rural residents. Colorado Crisis Services has a hotline and text-messaging number to refer people to free, confidential support. And the state is working on tailored messaging campaigns to help farmers and ranchers understand those numbers are free and confidential to contact. These services can help: According to the CDC, for every adult death by suicide, about 230 people think seriously about suicide.

A bill introduced in Colorado’s legislature would boost funding for rural rehabilitation specialists and help provide vouchers for rural Coloradans to get behavioral health services.

“We have to be flexible: What works in Denver does not work in La Junta” or the rest of rural Colorado, said Robert Werthwein, director of the state’s Office of Behavioral Health.

But in tightknit small towns, ranchers say, even if the resources are there the stigma remains.

“These are normal people with normal problems. We’re just trying to, perhaps first and foremost, destigmatize mental health needs and resources,” Smith said.

Stigmas are something 26-year-old Jacob Walter and his family want to help tackle. As Walter was growing up, a friend’s father and another friend’s mother died by suicide. Before Walter left the family’s ranch in southeastern Colorado to start his sophomore year in college, he lost his own father, Rusty, to suicide in 2016. Walter said there were few local resources at the time to help people like his dad, and the nearest town was 45 minutes away.

Rusty was involved in many community service organizations and gave a lot of his time to others, Walter said, but he suffered from depression.

“The day before he committed suicide, we had been talking at the kitchen table, and he was just talking about [his depression], and he said: ‘You know, you can always get help and stuff.’”

That’s the message agricultural leaders like Ray Atkinson, communications director at the American Farm Bureau Federation, say should be conveyed most: It’s OK to acknowledge when you need help.

“If your tractor needed maintenance … you would stop what you’re doing and you’d get it working right before you go try and go out in the field,” Atkinson said. “You are the most important piece of equipment on your farm.”

[Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in a crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. In Colorado, you can also contact Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-TALK (8255) or text TALK to 38255.]

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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This story can be republished for free (details).

Riding Herd on Mental Health in Colorado Ranching Country published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

[dinafbrownil]

What Is the Risk of Catching the Coronavirus on a Plane?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to alleviate fears of flying during the pandemic at an event with airline and rental car executives.”The airplanes have just not been vectors when you see spread of the coronavirus,” DeSantis said during a discussion at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Aug. 28. “The evidence is the evidence. And I think it’s something that is safe for people to do.”

Is the evidence really so clear?

DeSantis’ claim that airplanes have not been “vectors” for the spread of the coronavirus is untrue, according to experts. A “vector” spreads the virus from location to location, and airplanes have ferried infected passengers across geographies, making COVID-19 outbreaks more difficult to contain. Joseph Allen, an associate professor of exposure assessment science at Harvard University called airplanes “excellent vectors for viral spread” in a press call.

In context, DeSantis seemed to be making a point about the safety of flying on a plane rather than the role airplanes played in spreading the virus from place to place.

When we contacted the governor’s office for evidence to back up DeSantis’ comments, press secretary Cody McCloud didn’t produce any studies or statistics. Instead, he cited the Florida Department of Health’s contact tracing program, writing that it “has not yielded any information that would suggest any patients have been infected while travelling on a commercial aircraft.”

Florida’s contact tracing program has been mired in controversy over reports that it is understaffed and ineffective. For instance, CNN called 27 Floridians who tested positive for COVID-19 and found that only five had been contacted by health authorities. (The Florida Department of Health did not respond to requests for an interview.)

In the absence of reliable data, we decided to ask the experts about the possibility of contracting the virus while on a flight. On the whole, airplanes on their own provide generally safe environments when it comes to air quality, but experts said the risk for infection depends largely on policies airlines may have in place regarding passenger seating, masking and boarding time.

So How Safe Is Air Travel?

According to experts, the risk of catching the coronavirus on a plane is relatively low if the airline is following the procedures laid out by public health experts: enforcing mask compliance, spacing out available seats and screening for sick passengers.

“If you look at the science across all diseases, you see few outbreaks” on planes, Allen said. “It’s not the hotbed of infectivity that people think it is.”

Airlines frequently note that commercial planes are equipped with HEPA filters, the Centers for Disease Control-recommended air filters used in hospital isolation rooms. HEPA filters capture 99.97% of airborne particles and substantially reduce the risk of viral spread. In addition, the air in plane cabins is completely changed over 10 to 12 times per hour, raising the air quality above that of a normal building.

Because of the high air exchange rate, it’s unlikely you’ll catch the coronavirus from someone several rows away. However, you could still catch the virus from someone close by.

“The greatest risk in flight would be if you happen to draw the short straw and sit next to or in front, behind or across the aisle from an infector,” said Richard Corsi, who studies indoor air pollution and is the dean of engineering at Portland State University.

It’s also important to note that airplanes’ high-powered filtration systems aren’t sufficient on their own to prevent outbreaks. If an airline isn’t keeping middle seats open or vigilantly enforcing mask use, flying can actually be rather dangerous. Currently, the domestic airlines keeping middle seats open include Delta, Hawaiian, Southwest and JetBlue.

The reason for this is that infected people send viral particles into the air at a faster rate than the airplanes flush them out of the cabin. “Whenever you cough, talk or breathe, you’re sending out droplets,” said Qingyan Chen, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. “These droplets are in the cabin all the time.”

This makes additional protective measures such as mask-wearing all the more necessary.

Chen cited two international flights from earlier stages of the pandemic where infection rates varied depending on mask use. On the first flight, no passengers were wearing masks, and a single passenger infected 14 people as the plane traveled from London to Hanoi, Vietnam. On the second flight, from Singapore to Hangzhou in China, all passengers were wearing face masks. Although 15 passengers were Wuhan residents with either suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19, the only man infected en route had loosened his mask mid-flight and had been sitting close to four Wuhan residents who later tested positive for the virus.

Traveling Is Still a Danger

Even though flying is a relatively low-risk activity, traveling should still be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

“Anything that puts you in contact with more people is going to increase your risk,” said Cindy Prins, a clinical associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions. “If you compare it to just staying at home and quick trips to the grocery store, you’d have to put it above” that level of risk.

The real danger of traveling isn’t the flight itself. However, going through security and waiting at the gate for your plane to dock are both likely to put you in close contact with people and increase your chances of contracting the virus. In addition, boarding — when the plane’s ventilation system is not running and people are unable to stay distanced from one another — is one of the riskiest parts of the travel process. “Minimizing this time period is important to reduce exposure,” wrote Corsi. “Get to your seat with your mask on and sit down as quickly as possible.”

Viral Outbreaks Related to Planes

All in all, it’s too early to determine how much person-to-person transmission has occurred on plane flights.

Julian Tang, an honorary associate professor in the Department of Respiratory Sciences at the University of Leicester in England, said he is aware of several clusters of infection related to air travel. However, it is challenging to prove that people have caught the virus on a flight.

“Someone who presents with COVID-19 symptoms several days after arriving at their destination could have been infected at home before arriving at the airport, whilst at the airport or on the flight — or even on arrival at their destination airport — because everyone has a variable incubation period for COVID-19,” Tang said.

Katherine Estep, a spokesperson for Airlines for America, a U.S.-focused industry trade group, said the CDC has not confirmed any cases of transmission onboard a U.S. airline.

The absence of confirmed transmission is not necessarily evidence that fliers are safe. Instead, the lack of data reflects the fact that the U.S. has a higher infection rate relative to other countries, said Chen. Since the U.S. has so many confirmed cases, it’s more difficult to determine exactly where somebody contracted the virus. ​

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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Best health Crisis hits Lebanon’s hospitals, among the best in Mideast

Best health

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s hospitals, prolonged regarded as amongst the completely in the Heart East, are cracking beneath the country’s financial crisis, struggling to pay personnel, preserve tools running and even preserve open amid a surge in coronavirus conditions.

Non-public hospitals, the engine of the health machine, warn along with they are able to possess to shut down. Chronically underfunded public hospitals, which possess led the fight in opposition to the virus, scare they’ll be overrun.

Across the country, hospitals and medical doctors are reporting shortages in wanted medical gives equivalent to anesthesia medication and sutures. With energy cuts that depart through a lot of the day, they pour money into gas for mills, and a lot of are turning away non-severe conditions to preserve resources.

“The teach is mainly catastrophic, and we place a matter to a full crumple if the federal government doesn’t attain up with a rescue concept,” acknowledged Selim Abi Saleh, the top of the Physicians Union in northern Lebanon, even handed one of many country’s poorest and most populated regions.

One of many country’s oldest and most prestigious college hospitals, the American College Scientific Heart, laid off hundreds of its personnel final week citing the “disastrous” suppose of the economic system and inflicting uproar and self-discipline.

Scientific products and services possess let depart of nurses and reduced salaries, their price range running dry in half because they are able to’t uncover millions owed to them by the suppose. Close to a third of Lebanon’s 15,000 physicians aim to migrate or already possess, a medical doctors’ union legit acknowledged, in step with the volume who possess sought union paperwork they are able to employ out of the country to dispute their credentials.

So a long way Lebanon has kept a address on its pandemic outbreak, through genuine lockdowns, aggressive sorting out and a instant response, largely by public hospitals. The country has reported fewer than 3,000 infections and 41 deaths.

Nonetheless with conditions rising, many in the self-discipline scare the health sector can not preserve up beneath a surge and a financial crisis worsening every day.

Lebanon’s liquidity crunch has crippled the federal government’s capability to give gas, electrical energy and long-established products and services. The shortage of greenbacks is gutting imports, collectively with medical gives and medicine.

Prices possess spiraled, unemployment is above 30% and almost half the inhabitants of 5 million now reside in poverty.

Non-public hospitals, which produce up round 85% of the country’s products and services, emerged dominant after the country’s brutal 15-year civil battle to was the pleasure of Lebanon’s machine, drawing sufferers from at some stage in the contrivance with in reality fair correct products and services and superior surgical procedures.

Nonetheless the total health sector, fancy phenomenal of the country, has additionally depart on political jockeying and patronage in Lebanon’s sectarian machine. Scientific practitioners train politics decide how phenomenal cost from the suppose non-public hospitals receive while public products and services stay understaffed.

The insurance machine, with just a few health funds, is chaotic, making sequence complicated and coverage patchy. For years, suppose insurance funds did no longer reimburse hospitals. Non-public hospitals train they are owed $1.3 billion, some of it dating abet to 2011.

“We can’t fight COVID and at the identical time preserve having a peek behind our backs to peek whether I in reality possess ample financial and cloth resources,” acknowledged Firas Abiad, director overall of Rafik Hariri College Scientific institution, the general public health center leading the coronavirus fight.

Abiad, who has won praise for his transparency in handling the pandemic, is getting by with stay-hole measures. When he raised dismay this month that the health center was running out of gas, a depart of non-public donations flowed in. The government pledged to give gas for public products and services.

“I doubt someone has any prolonged-time period diagram,” Abiad acknowledged. “We’re doing it one fight at a time, and we are surviving one day at a time.”

Financing must be precedence, he acknowledged. “Mills can’t depart on empty, with out gas. Hospitals can’t depart with out financing.”

Minister of Successfully being Hamad Hassan told The Associated Press Monday he was looking out on government give a capture to to preserve hospitals as a “crimson line.” Nonetheless he entreated hospitals to originate their half to push throughout the crisis.

“Hospitals possess invested in this sector for 40 years. Whoever has invested that prolonged must possess the courage to make investments for six months or a year to lend a hand his other folks and no longer quit on them,” he acknowledged.

Non-public hospitals’ struggles are compounded by a banking sector crisis that has locked down foreign foreign money accounts and complex imports and the issuing of letters of credit rating.

In the northern village of Majdalaiya, the suppose-of-the artwork, 100-bed Household Scientific Heart health center stood almost empty final week. Its proprietor, oncologist Kayssar Mawad, acknowledged he needed to shut down even handed one of many 5 floor to set costs.

Mawad has needed to refuse sufferers with suppose insurance. The government already owes him millions of greenbacks, he acknowledged.

“It has to be a existence or death teach,” Mawad acknowledged. “Here is no longer sustainable.”

He acknowledged in most up-to-date weeks, he admitted 20 sufferers at most, while treating others as outpatients to set costs. His facility is ready to handle COVID-19 sufferers but he acknowledged it won’t because it’s too costly.

“We don’t are seeking to uncover to a Venezuela-teach the place we diagnose the affected person but place a matter to them to carry their have medication, meals, and sheets,” he acknowledged. “I’m hoping we don’t uncover there.”

There was completely one youngster in the health center’s 13-bed neonatal unit. On the adults’ floor, there possess been three sufferers.

One of them, an 83-year-frail man recovering from arterial surgical design, needed to pay out of pocket because his non-public insurance is no longer going to conceal the room or the stent. If a brother hadn’t attain from Germany to conceal the costs, “he would possess died,” acknowledged his daughter, Mayada Qaddour.

The 32 public hospitals is no longer going to be ready to luxuriate in the realm of non-public hospitals threatened with closure, acknowledged Ahmad Moghrabi, chairman of Orange Nassau, Lebanon’s completely government-depart maternity health center.

Moghrabi, now in his 70s, rebuilt the health center in the northern city of Tripoli from scratch since he took it over in 2003, almost fully through foreign donations. Aloof, it relies on suppose funds and insurance funds — both minimal — so it has never been ready to feature at elephantine potential of 5,000 births a year.

Now desperately wanting funds and gas, the health center has to juggle priorities. It suspended its neonatal unit to preserve existence-saving dialysis running.

“In 2020, (a health center) can’t originate with out a neonatal unit,” Moghrabi acknowledged. “With the hot conditions in Lebanon, we are going abet to the 1960s, even extra.”

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[worldnews-blog]

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the United States, Las Vegas seems to be operating business as usual. Casinos have been open since June 4—undeterred by the 123 visitors who have tested positive for the highly contagious virus and the 51-year-old Caesars employee who died in late June.But it’s not business as usual for doctors and nurses in Las Vegas’ besieged health-care system, who say they are “overwhelmed and terrified” about the massive influx of new cases in a state officially deemed a “red zone” by the White House. “I would say in the last month we’ve been completely overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and our hospital is running out of space,” one Las Vegas emergency room doctor, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of professional retaliation, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Not only are we overwhelmed and terrified, but based on the numbers for the rest of the country, it’s only going to get worse for us.”'A Sinking Ship’: Arizona Docs Say Ducey Steered State Into COVID-19 SurgeOne of the states that loosened coronavirus restrictions in May, Nevada has set records for new cases throughout July. The rate of new cases per 100,000 residents is higher than the national average, putting Nevada in the top ten states for cases per capita—alongside Arizona, Texas, and Florida, now the epicenter of the pandemic. In Las Vegas, where local officials protested against the stay-at-home order, the hospital system is starting to feel the effects of the cascading outbreak. The Las Vegas area set a new record of 1,315 new cases on Thursday, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.And Sin City is a microcosm for the whole state—which also shattered COVID-19 numbers on Thursday with 1,447 new cases and six new deaths. ICUs are at about 84 percent capacity. “It’s even more troubling that COVID-19 in Nevada is disproportionately impacting communities of color,” Bethany Khan, the communications director for the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Workers fear that they will contract the virus and bring it home to their families or possibly die from it.”At least 626 people have died from the coronavirus and 31,915 have been infected in Nevada—continuing a trend across much of the South and West after states lifted lockdown measures. Worse still, the rate of positive COVID-19 test results has reached a staggering 24.3 percent, rising continuously over the last month.Las Vegas Not-So-Politely Declines Mayor’s Bonkers Offer to Become Virus ‘Control Group’To curtail the surge, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has rolled back premature reopening plans, introduced a mask mandate, and closed down bars in seven counties, including Vegas. But he left it up to local leaders to enact more restrictive measures—and Las Vegas seems to be operating as usual. In the weeks after Nevada’s casinos reopened on June 4, after being shuttered for three months, at least 123 visitors have tested positive for the coronavirus.Brian Labus, a professor of public health and outbreak investigation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast that while cases in the state are surging, state officials have “stepped up” and taken “the main steps” to ensure the spread is curtailed. “The problem comes down to the fact that people didn’t take the social distancing seriously when we reopened,” Labus said. “I think the mask mandate will have a big dent on cases.”Labus also stressed that Sin City “exists for tourism” and therefore has a unique issue of balancing “its economy with the safety issues.”“You have to remember the kind of people who are coming to Las Vegas right now. It’s the people who are the least concerned about this outbreak right now—least likely to follow the social distancing,” he said, noting that tourists are not counted in Nevada’s numbers.“When you are on vacation, you want to forget about all your problems—and that includes the coronavirus. But there is still a pandemic, and not following health guidelines puts everyone at risk.”Khan said the pressure on reopening the strip has meant “hotel and casino workers are working in fear every day.” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has been notably silent after calling the state shutdown in March “total insanity” and suggesting Las Vegas could be a “control group” to test the impact COVID-19 would have on a community that didn’t close its doors. Over 500 Employees at Trump’s Las Vegas Hotel Have Been Laid Off Amid Coronavirus“We would love to be that placebo side so you have something to measure against,” she said during a wild April interview on CNN that prompted residents to begin efforts to remove her. Goodman’s office did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.Late last month, Adolfo Fernandez, a 51-year-old employee at Caesars Entertainment on the strip, died after testing positive for COVID-19. The utility porter died just two days after getting his virus diagnosis—and before the casino implemented a company-wide mask policy.The Culinary Union has since filed a lawsuit against several major casinos—including The Signature at the MGM Grand—to protect workers returning to work. The lawsuit states that the casino hotels have not adopted precautions to address the virus, have not conducted adequate tracing, and haven’t informed employees of positive tests among co-workers. Khan, who said 20 union members and their spouses or kids had died from COVID-19 in the last three months, stressed that the lawsuit was aimed at ensuring that hotel and casino workers don’t have to live “with the same fear every day they go to work.”The White House, according to a report obtained by the Center of Public Integrity, believes Nevada is already facing catastrophic virus consequences. In a July 14 document from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, public health officials said Nevada had reached “red zone” status—meaning there were more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 residents in the prior week. Nevada had about 173 new cases per capita in the previous week, compared to the national average of 119. “Las Vegas continues to have [a] concerning rise in cases,” the report said, noting that its county is one of the top three in the state with the highest COVID-19 cases. (Clark County, Washoe, County and Elko County represent 97.9 percent of the new cases in Nevada.)In order to combat the surge, the White House document suggested Nevada—and 17 other states—limit large gatherings, close down indoor establishments, and issue a mask mandate. A New York Times study also showed Nevada’s surge to be among the highest in the world. The study of the number of daily infections between June 28 and July 5 showed Arizona and Florida are the two most infected places in the world. Nevada placed ninth, before Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and the country of Panama. Nevada also ranked before Brazil, a country seen as one of the world's most severe hot spots with more than 2 million cases recorded since March. “The big surge in cases in Nevada [is] among Las Vegas residents—but even if Las Vegas puts a bunch of measures in place, it wouldn’t matter unless it was implemented statewide. You can’t just focus on one jurisdiction, because people move around,” Labus said. Las Vegas hospitals are feeling the surge of new cases and are overwhelmed, understaffed, and short on supplies—unable to keep up with what researchers believe is the “tipping point” before a state loses control of the pandemic. For the ER doctor, who said he had worked over 100 hours this week alone, the fear is knowing that the worst of the virus is yet to come for Las Vegas. He also said that some of the hospital’s beds are being taken up by patients from out-of-state, like Arizona.“This is uncharted waters and it seems like everyone in Las Vegas has been too lax about the pandemic,” the doctor said, stressing that local officials have not taken the necessary precautions to ensure they “stop the virus in its tracks months ago.”“People here in Las Vegas don’t see this pandemic as an issue—well, once the hospitals are filled and there is nowhere to go, they will realize they should have been more careful.”A spokesperson for University Medical Center in Las Vegas confirmed to The Daily Beast the hospital’s ICU occupancy had exceeded 90 percent but stressed they “have the ability to significantly expand this capacity.” “Following a detailed planning process, we have teams in place to activate alternative surge space throughout UMC as needed. We are currently using extra space within a large PACU [post-anesthesia care unit] to care for a small number of patients with non-COVID-related medical concerns,” the spokesperson said, adding that the hospital had not received any virus patients from Arizona. The hospital does take out-of-state trauma patients who need additional care.According to the Nevada Hospital Association, the state recorded its highest day for hospitalizations this week, with 1,051 on Tuesday. By Thursday, about 77 percent of staffed beds across the state were occupied, and 785 confirmed virus patients were admitted. About 40 percent of the state’s ventilators are in use.Sixto Zermeno, a bellman at The Signature at MGM Grand, said in a video announcing the union’s lawsuit, that he hadn’t been able to see his daughter for three weeks while he recovered from COVID-19.“[G]etting this disease has been extremely difficult for me and my family,” he said. “I have not been able to see my nine-year-old daughter in person since I tested positive—I haven’t been able to hug my daughter or see her for 3-weeks now.“The Signature at MGM Grand had three months to prepare and they didn’t. None of our upper management had a clue what to do and that’s unfortunate. They put a lot of us and our families at risk.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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[tendance-news]

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the United States, Las Vegas seems to be operating business as usual. Casinos have been open since June 4—undeterred by the 123 visitors who have tested positive for the highly contagious virus and the 51-year-old Caesars employee who died in late June.But it’s not business as usual for doctors and nurses in Las Vegas’ besieged health-care system, who say they are “overwhelmed and terrified” about the massive influx of new cases in a state officially deemed a “red zone” by the White House. “I would say in the last month we’ve been completely overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and our hospital is running out of space,” one Las Vegas emergency room doctor, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of professional retaliation, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Not only are we overwhelmed and terrified, but based on the numbers for the rest of the country, it’s only going to get worse for us.”'A Sinking Ship’: Arizona Docs Say Ducey Steered State Into COVID-19 SurgeOne of the states that loosened coronavirus restrictions in May, Nevada has set records for new cases throughout July. The rate of new cases per 100,000 residents is higher than the national average, putting Nevada in the top ten states for cases per capita—alongside Arizona, Texas, and Florida, now the epicenter of the pandemic. In Las Vegas, where local officials protested against the stay-at-home order, the hospital system is starting to feel the effects of the cascading outbreak. The Las Vegas area set a new record of 1,315 new cases on Thursday, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.And Sin City is a microcosm for the whole state—which also shattered COVID-19 numbers on Thursday with 1,447 new cases and six new deaths. ICUs are at about 84 percent capacity. “It’s even more troubling that COVID-19 in Nevada is disproportionately impacting communities of color,” Bethany Khan, the communications director for the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Workers fear that they will contract the virus and bring it home to their families or possibly die from it.”At least 626 people have died from the coronavirus and 31,915 have been infected in Nevada—continuing a trend across much of the South and West after states lifted lockdown measures. Worse still, the rate of positive COVID-19 test results has reached a staggering 24.3 percent, rising continuously over the last month.Las Vegas Not-So-Politely Declines Mayor’s Bonkers Offer to Become Virus ‘Control Group’To curtail the surge, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has rolled back premature reopening plans, introduced a mask mandate, and closed down bars in seven counties, including Vegas. But he left it up to local leaders to enact more restrictive measures—and Las Vegas seems to be operating as usual. In the weeks after Nevada’s casinos reopened on June 4, after being shuttered for three months, at least 123 visitors have tested positive for the coronavirus.Brian Labus, a professor of public health and outbreak investigation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast that while cases in the state are surging, state officials have “stepped up” and taken “the main steps” to ensure the spread is curtailed. “The problem comes down to the fact that people didn’t take the social distancing seriously when we reopened,” Labus said. “I think the mask mandate will have a big dent on cases.”Labus also stressed that Sin City “exists for tourism” and therefore has a unique issue of balancing “its economy with the safety issues.”“You have to remember the kind of people who are coming to Las Vegas right now. It’s the people who are the least concerned about this outbreak right now—least likely to follow the social distancing,” he said, noting that tourists are not counted in Nevada’s numbers.“When you are on vacation, you want to forget about all your problems—and that includes the coronavirus. But there is still a pandemic, and not following health guidelines puts everyone at risk.”Khan said the pressure on reopening the strip has meant “hotel and casino workers are working in fear every day.” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has been notably silent after calling the state shutdown in March “total insanity” and suggesting Las Vegas could be a “control group” to test the impact COVID-19 would have on a community that didn’t close its doors. Over 500 Employees at Trump’s Las Vegas Hotel Have Been Laid Off Amid Coronavirus“We would love to be that placebo side so you have something to measure against,” she said during a wild April interview on CNN that prompted residents to begin efforts to remove her. Goodman’s office did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.Late last month, Adolfo Fernandez, a 51-year-old employee at Caesars Entertainment on the strip, died after testing positive for COVID-19. The utility porter died just two days after getting his virus diagnosis—and before the casino implemented a company-wide mask policy.The Culinary Union has since filed a lawsuit against several major casinos—including The Signature at the MGM Grand—to protect workers returning to work. The lawsuit states that the casino hotels have not adopted precautions to address the virus, have not conducted adequate tracing, and haven’t informed employees of positive tests among co-workers. Khan, who said 20 union members and their spouses or kids had died from COVID-19 in the last three months, stressed that the lawsuit was aimed at ensuring that hotel and casino workers don’t have to live “with the same fear every day they go to work.”The White House, according to a report obtained by the Center of Public Integrity, believes Nevada is already facing catastrophic virus consequences. In a July 14 document from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, public health officials said Nevada had reached “red zone” status—meaning there were more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 residents in the prior week. Nevada had about 173 new cases per capita in the previous week, compared to the national average of 119. “Las Vegas continues to have [a] concerning rise in cases,” the report said, noting that its county is one of the top three in the state with the highest COVID-19 cases. (Clark County, Washoe, County and Elko County represent 97.9 percent of the new cases in Nevada.)In order to combat the surge, the White House document suggested Nevada—and 17 other states—limit large gatherings, close down indoor establishments, and issue a mask mandate. A New York Times study also showed Nevada’s surge to be among the highest in the world. The study of the number of daily infections between June 28 and July 5 showed Arizona and Florida are the two most infected places in the world. Nevada placed ninth, before Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and the country of Panama. Nevada also ranked before Brazil, a country seen as one of the world's most severe hot spots with more than 2 million cases recorded since March. “The big surge in cases in Nevada [is] among Las Vegas residents—but even if Las Vegas puts a bunch of measures in place, it wouldn’t matter unless it was implemented statewide. You can’t just focus on one jurisdiction, because people move around,” Labus said. Las Vegas hospitals are feeling the surge of new cases and are overwhelmed, understaffed, and short on supplies—unable to keep up with what researchers believe is the “tipping point” before a state loses control of the pandemic. For the ER doctor, who said he had worked over 100 hours this week alone, the fear is knowing that the worst of the virus is yet to come for Las Vegas. He also said that some of the hospital’s beds are being taken up by patients from out-of-state, like Arizona.“This is uncharted waters and it seems like everyone in Las Vegas has been too lax about the pandemic,” the doctor said, stressing that local officials have not taken the necessary precautions to ensure they “stop the virus in its tracks months ago.”“People here in Las Vegas don’t see this pandemic as an issue—well, once the hospitals are filled and there is nowhere to go, they will realize they should have been more careful.”A spokesperson for University Medical Center in Las Vegas confirmed to The Daily Beast the hospital’s ICU occupancy had exceeded 90 percent but stressed they “have the ability to significantly expand this capacity.” “Following a detailed planning process, we have teams in place to activate alternative surge space throughout UMC as needed. We are currently using extra space within a large PACU [post-anesthesia care unit] to care for a small number of patients with non-COVID-related medical concerns,” the spokesperson said, adding that the hospital had not received any virus patients from Arizona. The hospital does take out-of-state trauma patients who need additional care.According to the Nevada Hospital Association, the state recorded its highest day for hospitalizations this week, with 1,051 on Tuesday. By Thursday, about 77 percent of staffed beds across the state were occupied, and 785 confirmed virus patients were admitted. About 40 percent of the state’s ventilators are in use.Sixto Zermeno, a bellman at The Signature at MGM Grand, said in a video announcing the union’s lawsuit, that he hadn’t been able to see his daughter for three weeks while he recovered from COVID-19.“[G]etting this disease has been extremely difficult for me and my family,” he said. “I have not been able to see my nine-year-old daughter in person since I tested positive—I haven’t been able to hug my daughter or see her for 3-weeks now.“The Signature at MGM Grand had three months to prepare and they didn’t. None of our upper management had a clue what to do and that’s unfortunate. They put a lot of us and our families at risk.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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[stephenmccull]

Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’

For nearly a year, nursing homes and assisted living centers have been mostly closed to visitors. Now, it’s time for them to open back up and relieve residents of crushing isolation, according to a growing chorus of long-term care experts, caregivers, consumer groups and physicians.

This story also ran on CNN. It can be republished for free.

They’re calling for federal health authorities to relax visitation restrictions in long-term care institutions, replacing guidance that’s been in place since September. And they want both federal and state authorities to grant special status to “essential caregivers” — family members or friends who provide critically important hands-on care — so they have the opportunity to tend to relatives in need.

Richard Fornili, 84, who lives in a nursing home in St. Marys, Georgia, supports a change in policies. He hasn’t seen any family members since last summer, when a granddaughter, her husband and her two children stood outside his window and called him on the phone. “The depression and sense of aloneness affecting my fellow residents, it’s terrible,” he said. “Having our relatives come back in to see us, it’s an absolute necessity for our well-being.”

“At this point, residents are becoming more likely to die of isolation and neglect than covid,” said Jocelyn Bogdan, program and policy specialist at the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, citing new data linking covid-19 vaccination to sharp declines in covid-related deaths. Her organization has launched a petition drive calling for nursing homes to safely reopen and for essential caregivers to have unrestricted access to loved ones.

Since late December, when vaccinations began, covid cases in nursing home residents have plunged 83%, while deaths have dropped by 66%, according to an analysis by KFF. As of Monday, 4.6 million residents and staff members in nursing homes and other congregate facilities had received at least one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, including more than 2 million who had received a second dose.

Vaccines have “changed everything” and nursing homes are now among “the safest places you can be in your community in terms of covid,” said Ruth Katz, senior vice president of public policy at LeadingAge, an association representing more than 5,000 nonprofit nursing homes, assisted living centers and senior housing providers.

Last week, LeadingAge called for federal authorities to expand visitation in a letter to top officials at the White House, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In an email, the American Health Care Association, which represents more than 14,000 long-term care providers, also urged CMS and the CDC to review its visitation guidance. AARP, the nation’s most powerful seniors’ lobby, chimed in with a letter noting “a critical need” for new recommendations.

Medical directors at long-term care facilities are also weighing in while sounding a cautious note in new guidance about resuming communal activities and visitation in long-term care facilities. With new covid variants circulating and significant numbers of staffers and potential visitors still unvaccinated, “we’re recommending a measured, step-wise approach,” said Dr. Swati Gaur, chair of the infection advisory committee for AMDA — the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

Facilities that reopen to family members should do so “carefully,” she said, scheduling visits, screening those visitors for symptoms and ideally requiring a negative covid test before entry; limiting the number of visitors in a facility at any time; sending them to designated visitor sites, not residents’ rooms; and requiring the use of masks and gloves, among other precautions.

No one wants to see covid outbreaks reappear in long-term care facilities, Gaur said — the site of nearly 173,000 covid-related deaths, about 35% of the nation’s total.

CMS instructed nursing homes to lock down almost a year ago, on March 13, as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated and the CDC said no one except relatives making end-of-life visits should be let in. In September, new recommendations allowed outdoor visits, so long as safety precautions such as physical distancing were in place, and indoor visits, so long as a facility was covid-free for 14 days and the positivity rate for covid cases in the surrounding community was under 10%.

Federal recommendations apply to nursing homes. States regulate assisted living and other congregate care facilities but tend to follow the CDC’s lead. In practice, long-term care facilities vary considerably in how they implement recommended policies.

Also, federal authorities recommended that relatives be able to make “compassionate care” visits when a resident is emotionally distressed, grieving the loss of friends or family members, losing weight or adjusting poorly to the recent loss of family support. But many nursing homes continue to deny these visits, and enforcement needs to be strengthened, AARP observed in its letter.

Melody Taylor Stark said her request for a compassionate care visit with her husband, Bill Stark, was denied in October, when his congestive heart failure worsened. Bill, 84, a resident at Huntington Drive Health and Rehabilitation in Arcadia, California, for five years, was subsequently hospitalized with pneumonia. Stark said she was permitted only one 15-minute visit with him, on Nov. 17, after he returned to Huntington — the last time she saw Bill before his death on Nov. 22. The administrator at Huntington Drive did not respond to a request for comment.

The Essential Caregivers Coalition, of which Stark is a member, is asking that every long-term care resident be able to designate one or two essential caregivers who can come in and out of facilities regularly to provide hands-on care to loved ones, as they did before the pandemic. As the anniversary of lockdowns approaches, the coalition has organized email blasts and letter-writing campaigns to federal and state authorities, a traveling lawn sign campaign in more than a dozen states and gatherings at several state capitols. The campaign’s slogan: Isolation Kills, Too.

Mikko Cook, 49, of Ventura, California, is one of the group’s co-founders. Her father, Ron Von Ronne, 77, has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a 200-bed nursing home in Albany, New York. Before the pandemic, Cook’s brother visited almost every day.

“The home was severely understaffed and when my family members would go in to take care of him, my father’s sheets would be soiled. He wouldn’t have showered. The bathroom was never clean. But they would take care of that,” Cook said.

After the lockdown, Von Ronne went more than three months without seeing or talking to family members. Over the past year, he nearly stopped communicating, was assaulted by a fellow resident and lost almost all his belongings, which were either misplaced or stolen, Cook said. Von Ronne has since had two outdoor visits with relatives, and three short visits in family members’ homes at Christmas and in January and February.

Mary Daniel, 58, founded another activist group, Caregivers for Compromise, after getting a part-time job in July at her husband’s assisted living center in Jacksonville, Florida — the only way she could see him. Steve Daniel, 67, has early-onset Alzheimer’s, and she had visited every evening before the pandemic.

After stories about her went viral, Daniel created Facebook groups in every state for caregivers who wanted more access to their loved ones. Now, Caregivers for Compromise chapters in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia are active in the Isolation Kills, Too campaign.

“We’re getting impatient: Our loved ones’ quality of life is deteriorating every single day. My husband has been vaccinated and he wants to go outside and feel the sunlight on his face. It’s time to open back up and let him live whatever time he has left with freedom,” Daniel said. “You cannot protect people like him forever, from everything.”

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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Reopening of Long-Term Care Facilities Is ‘an Absolute Necessity for Our Well-Being’

For nearly a year, nursing homes and assisted living centers have been mostly closed to visitors. Now, it’s time for them to open back up and relieve residents of crushing isolation, according to a growing chorus of long-term care experts, caregivers, consumer groups and physicians.

This story also ran on CNN. It can be republished for free.

They’re calling for federal health authorities to relax visitation restrictions in long-term care institutions, replacing guidance that’s been in place since September. And they want both federal and state authorities to grant special status to “essential caregivers” — family members or friends who provide critically important hands-on care — so they have the opportunity to tend to relatives in need.

Richard Fornili, 84, who lives in a nursing home in St. Marys, Georgia, supports a change in policies. He hasn’t seen any family members since last summer, when a granddaughter, her husband and her two children stood outside his window and called him on the phone. “The depression and sense of aloneness affecting my fellow residents, it’s terrible,” he said. “Having our relatives come back in to see us, it’s an absolute necessity for our well-being.”

“At this point, residents are becoming more likely to die of isolation and neglect than covid,” said Jocelyn Bogdan, program and policy specialist at the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, citing new data linking covid-19 vaccination to sharp declines in covid-related deaths. Her organization has launched a petition drive calling for nursing homes to safely reopen and for essential caregivers to have unrestricted access to loved ones.

Since late December, when vaccinations began, covid cases in nursing home residents have plunged 83%, while deaths have dropped by 66%, according to an analysis by KFF. As of Monday, 4.6 million residents and staff members in nursing homes and other congregate facilities had received at least one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, including more than 2 million who had received a second dose.

Vaccines have “changed everything” and nursing homes are now among “the safest places you can be in your community in terms of covid,” said Ruth Katz, senior vice president of public policy at LeadingAge, an association representing more than 5,000 nonprofit nursing homes, assisted living centers and senior housing providers.

Last week, LeadingAge called for federal authorities to expand visitation in a letter to top officials at the White House, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In an email, the American Health Care Association, which represents more than 14,000 long-term care providers, also urged CMS and the CDC to review its visitation guidance. AARP, the nation’s most powerful seniors’ lobby, chimed in with a letter noting “a critical need” for new recommendations.

Medical directors at long-term care facilities are also weighing in while sounding a cautious note in new guidance about resuming communal activities and visitation in long-term care facilities. With new covid variants circulating and significant numbers of staffers and potential visitors still unvaccinated, “we’re recommending a measured, step-wise approach,” said Dr. Swati Gaur, chair of the infection advisory committee for AMDA — the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

Facilities that reopen to family members should do so “carefully,” she said, scheduling visits, screening those visitors for symptoms and ideally requiring a negative covid test before entry; limiting the number of visitors in a facility at any time; sending them to designated visitor sites, not residents’ rooms; and requiring the use of masks and gloves, among other precautions.

No one wants to see covid outbreaks reappear in long-term care facilities, Gaur said — the site of nearly 173,000 covid-related deaths, about 35% of the nation’s total.

CMS instructed nursing homes to lock down almost a year ago, on March 13, as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated and the CDC said no one except relatives making end-of-life visits should be let in. In September, new recommendations allowed outdoor visits, so long as safety precautions such as physical distancing were in place, and indoor visits, so long as a facility was covid-free for 14 days and the positivity rate for covid cases in the surrounding community was under 10%.

Federal recommendations apply to nursing homes. States regulate assisted living and other congregate care facilities but tend to follow the CDC’s lead. In practice, long-term care facilities vary considerably in how they implement recommended policies.

Also, federal authorities recommended that relatives be able to make “compassionate care” visits when a resident is emotionally distressed, grieving the loss of friends or family members, losing weight or adjusting poorly to the recent loss of family support. But many nursing homes continue to deny these visits, and enforcement needs to be strengthened, AARP observed in its letter.

Melody Taylor Stark said her request for a compassionate care visit with her husband, Bill Stark, was denied in October, when his congestive heart failure worsened. Bill, 84, a resident at Huntington Drive Health and Rehabilitation in Arcadia, California, for five years, was subsequently hospitalized with pneumonia. Stark said she was permitted only one 15-minute visit with him, on Nov. 17, after he returned to Huntington — the last time she saw Bill before his death on Nov. 22. The administrator at Huntington Drive did not respond to a request for comment.

The Essential Caregivers Coalition, of which Stark is a member, is asking that every long-term care resident be able to designate one or two essential caregivers who can come in and out of facilities regularly to provide hands-on care to loved ones, as they did before the pandemic. As the anniversary of lockdowns approaches, the coalition has organized email blasts and letter-writing campaigns to federal and state authorities, a traveling lawn sign campaign in more than a dozen states and gatherings at several state capitols. The campaign’s slogan: Isolation Kills, Too.

Mikko Cook, 49, of Ventura, California, is one of the group’s co-founders. Her father, Ron Von Ronne, 77, has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a 200-bed nursing home in Albany, New York. Before the pandemic, Cook’s brother visited almost every day.

“The home was severely understaffed and when my family members would go in to take care of him, my father’s sheets would be soiled. He wouldn’t have showered. The bathroom was never clean. But they would take care of that,” Cook said.

After the lockdown, Von Ronne went more than three months without seeing or talking to family members. Over the past year, he nearly stopped communicating, was assaulted by a fellow resident and lost almost all his belongings, which were either misplaced or stolen, Cook said. Von Ronne has since had two outdoor visits with relatives, and three short visits in family members’ homes at Christmas and in January and February.

Mary Daniel, 58, founded another activist group, Caregivers for Compromise, after getting a part-time job in July at her husband’s assisted living center in Jacksonville, Florida — the only way she could see him. Steve Daniel, 67, has early-onset Alzheimer’s, and she had visited every evening before the pandemic.

After stories about her went viral, Daniel created Facebook groups in every state for caregivers who wanted more access to their loved ones. Now, Caregivers for Compromise chapters in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia are active in the Isolation Kills, Too campaign.

“We’re getting impatient: Our loved ones’ quality of life is deteriorating every single day. My husband has been vaccinated and he wants to go outside and feel the sunlight on his face. It’s time to open back up and let him live whatever time he has left with freedom,” Daniel said. “You cannot protect people like him forever, from everything.”

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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[saadullah-faisal-world]

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the United States, Las Vegas seems to be operating business as usual. Casinos have been open since June 4—undeterred by the 123 visitors who have tested positive for the highly contagious virus and the 51-year-old Caesars employee who died in late June.But it’s not business as usual for doctors and nurses in Las Vegas’ besieged health-care system, who say they are “overwhelmed and terrified” about the massive influx of new cases in a state officially deemed a “red zone” by the White House. “I would say in the last month we’ve been completely overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and our hospital is running out of space,” one Las Vegas emergency room doctor, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of professional retaliation, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Not only are we overwhelmed and terrified, but based on the numbers for the rest of the country, it’s only going to get worse for us.”'A Sinking Ship’: Arizona Docs Say Ducey Steered State Into COVID-19 SurgeOne of the states that loosened coronavirus restrictions in May, Nevada has set records for new cases throughout July. The rate of new cases per 100,000 residents is higher than the national average, putting Nevada in the top ten states for cases per capita—alongside Arizona, Texas, and Florida, now the epicenter of the pandemic. In Las Vegas, where local officials protested against the stay-at-home order, the hospital system is starting to feel the effects of the cascading outbreak. The Las Vegas area set a new record of 1,315 new cases on Thursday, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services.And Sin City is a microcosm for the whole state—which also shattered COVID-19 numbers on Thursday with 1,447 new cases and six new deaths. ICUs are at about 84 percent capacity. “It’s even more troubling that COVID-19 in Nevada is disproportionately impacting communities of color,” Bethany Khan, the communications director for the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Workers fear that they will contract the virus and bring it home to their families or possibly die from it.”At least 626 people have died from the coronavirus and 31,915 have been infected in Nevada—continuing a trend across much of the South and West after states lifted lockdown measures. Worse still, the rate of positive COVID-19 test results has reached a staggering 24.3 percent, rising continuously over the last month.Las Vegas Not-So-Politely Declines Mayor’s Bonkers Offer to Become Virus ‘Control Group’To curtail the surge, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has rolled back premature reopening plans, introduced a mask mandate, and closed down bars in seven counties, including Vegas. But he left it up to local leaders to enact more restrictive measures—and Las Vegas seems to be operating as usual. In the weeks after Nevada’s casinos reopened on June 4, after being shuttered for three months, at least 123 visitors have tested positive for the coronavirus.Brian Labus, a professor of public health and outbreak investigation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told The Daily Beast that while cases in the state are surging, state officials have “stepped up” and taken “the main steps” to ensure the spread is curtailed. “The problem comes down to the fact that people didn’t take the social distancing seriously when we reopened,” Labus said. “I think the mask mandate will have a big dent on cases.”Labus also stressed that Sin City “exists for tourism” and therefore has a unique issue of balancing “its economy with the safety issues.”“You have to remember the kind of people who are coming to Las Vegas right now. It’s the people who are the least concerned about this outbreak right now—least likely to follow the social distancing,” he said, noting that tourists are not counted in Nevada’s numbers.“When you are on vacation, you want to forget about all your problems—and that includes the coronavirus. But there is still a pandemic, and not following health guidelines puts everyone at risk.”Khan said the pressure on reopening the strip has meant “hotel and casino workers are working in fear every day.” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has been notably silent after calling the state shutdown in March “total insanity” and suggesting Las Vegas could be a “control group” to test the impact COVID-19 would have on a community that didn’t close its doors. Over 500 Employees at Trump’s Las Vegas Hotel Have Been Laid Off Amid Coronavirus“We would love to be that placebo side so you have something to measure against,” she said during a wild April interview on CNN that prompted residents to begin efforts to remove her. Goodman’s office did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.Late last month, Adolfo Fernandez, a 51-year-old employee at Caesars Entertainment on the strip, died after testing positive for COVID-19. The utility porter died just two days after getting his virus diagnosis—and before the casino implemented a company-wide mask policy.The Culinary Union has since filed a lawsuit against several major casinos—including The Signature at the MGM Grand—to protect workers returning to work. The lawsuit states that the casino hotels have not adopted precautions to address the virus, have not conducted adequate tracing, and haven’t informed employees of positive tests among co-workers. Khan, who said 20 union members and their spouses or kids had died from COVID-19 in the last three months, stressed that the lawsuit was aimed at ensuring that hotel and casino workers don’t have to live “with the same fear every day they go to work.”The White House, according to a report obtained by the Center of Public Integrity, believes Nevada is already facing catastrophic virus consequences. In a July 14 document from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, public health officials said Nevada had reached “red zone” status—meaning there were more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 residents in the prior week. Nevada had about 173 new cases per capita in the previous week, compared to the national average of 119. “Las Vegas continues to have [a] concerning rise in cases,” the report said, noting that its county is one of the top three in the state with the highest COVID-19 cases. (Clark County, Washoe, County and Elko County represent 97.9 percent of the new cases in Nevada.)In order to combat the surge, the White House document suggested Nevada—and 17 other states—limit large gatherings, close down indoor establishments, and issue a mask mandate. A New York Times study also showed Nevada’s surge to be among the highest in the world. The study of the number of daily infections between June 28 and July 5 showed Arizona and Florida are the two most infected places in the world. Nevada placed ninth, before Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and the country of Panama. Nevada also ranked before Brazil, a country seen as one of the world's most severe hot spots with more than 2 million cases recorded since March. “The big surge in cases in Nevada [is] among Las Vegas residents—but even if Las Vegas puts a bunch of measures in place, it wouldn’t matter unless it was implemented statewide. You can’t just focus on one jurisdiction, because people move around,” Labus said. Las Vegas hospitals are feeling the surge of new cases and are overwhelmed, understaffed, and short on supplies—unable to keep up with what researchers believe is the “tipping point” before a state loses control of the pandemic. For the ER doctor, who said he had worked over 100 hours this week alone, the fear is knowing that the worst of the virus is yet to come for Las Vegas. He also said that some of the hospital’s beds are being taken up by patients from out-of-state, like Arizona.“This is uncharted waters and it seems like everyone in Las Vegas has been too lax about the pandemic,” the doctor said, stressing that local officials have not taken the necessary precautions to ensure they “stop the virus in its tracks months ago.”“People here in Las Vegas don’t see this pandemic as an issue—well, once the hospitals are filled and there is nowhere to go, they will realize they should have been more careful.”A spokesperson for University Medical Center in Las Vegas confirmed to The Daily Beast the hospital’s ICU occupancy had exceeded 90 percent but stressed they “have the ability to significantly expand this capacity.” “Following a detailed planning process, we have teams in place to activate alternative surge space throughout UMC as needed. We are currently using extra space within a large PACU [post-anesthesia care unit] to care for a small number of patients with non-COVID-related medical concerns,” the spokesperson said, adding that the hospital had not received any virus patients from Arizona. The hospital does take out-of-state trauma patients who need additional care.According to the Nevada Hospital Association, the state recorded its highest day for hospitalizations this week, with 1,051 on Tuesday. By Thursday, about 77 percent of staffed beds across the state were occupied, and 785 confirmed virus patients were admitted. About 40 percent of the state’s ventilators are in use.Sixto Zermeno, a bellman at The Signature at MGM Grand, said in a video announcing the union’s lawsuit, that he hadn’t been able to see his daughter for three weeks while he recovered from COVID-19.“[G]etting this disease has been extremely difficult for me and my family,” he said. “I have not been able to see my nine-year-old daughter in person since I tested positive—I haven’t been able to hug my daughter or see her for 3-weeks now.“The Signature at MGM Grand had three months to prepare and they didn’t. None of our upper management had a clue what to do and that’s unfortunate. They put a lot of us and our families at risk.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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[itsfinancethings]

In early May, a group of 20 Black mothers in rural Mississippi logged onto a virtual group therapy session to discuss the immense, compounding pressures of providing for their families and caring for their children during a global pandemic and historic unemployment crisis. It was the first time any of them had talked to a traditional mental health counselor, and the results were cathartic.

“It’s important that we refuel — to be able to be better parents, to be able to be better daughters, to be better sisters and mothers,” says Dr. Erica Thompson, the executive director of Magnolia Medical Foundation, the community health nonprofit that ran the program.

Magnolia Medical Foundation’s pilot series was designed to address the unique challenges facing Black mothers in recent months as they navigate a pandemic that has disproportionately claimed Black lives, an unemployment crisis that has exposed the failures of the American social safety net, and the explosion of a national movement combatting the systemic violence perpetrated against Black people.

Magnolia Medical Foundation’s program invited mothers to participate in therapy sessions virtually, via computers or phones, and then stop at a drive-through to pick up information about mindfulness and coping mechanisms, as well as other more tangible resources, like food, cleaning supplies and face masks. “This allowed them to place those questions that they had, and to be able to pick up resources and information that they could carry with them to build out their recovery and their resilience and sustainability,” said Thompson, who returned to her native Mississippi after medical school to address the stark health disparities that faced Black people like herself.

But the Magnolia Medical Foundation is hardly alone in using this moment to find new ways to support Black mothers. In recent months, community leaders have rallied to offer Black women access to mental health care, counseling and information regarding their unique health challenges. Doula groups from Brooklyn to New Mexico have led online trainings on how to handle stress and trauma, and midwives in rural counties across the South taught clients how to take their own blood pressure and how to advocate for themselves in a hospital setting. Organizations like Black Mamas Matter Alliance and Black Women’s Health Imperative have published guidance and held webinars addressing topics targeted at Black moms, including navigating health insurance, accessing telehealth, and to how to give birth safely during the pandemic.

The focus on Black mothers is not incidental. Even before the pandemic, many Black women faced outsized barriers to health care. They are less likely as a group to be insured than their white counterparts, more likely to suffer from maternal health complications, and three to four times more likely to die from causes relating to pregnancy. Black mothers are also more likely to see their babies die, particularly in rural areas, where the mortality rate for infants born to Black women is at 11.8 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Enduring racism can also be a significant factor for Black women’s health, says Monica McLemore, a family health care nursing professor at the University of California, San Francisco. She and several colleagues recently published a study finding that Black mothers who reported high levels of racial discrimination may be at risk for preterm births and other negative birth outcomes. Other studies have shown that racism among medical practitioners affects the quality of care Black mothers receive, the amount of time doctors spend with Black patients, the way providers view Black patients’ pain and evaluate their complaints. Black mothers’ experiences with racism have also been associated with delays in seeking prenatal care.

Those stresses are perhaps compounded in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, when millions of people have shared violent videos on social media. “We are very worried and concerned about people’s exposure to repeated videos of the murders and shootings of unarmed black people,” McLemore says. “We also worry about the fact that many people who would have social support, currently don’t have that in the context of physical distancing.”

COVID-19 exacerbates negative health trends, in part because it fuels people’s fears of seeking out medical care, experts say. As hospitals reassign doctors and nurses to handle a surge in COVID-19 patients, other parts of the hospital — like maternity floors and family health wards — are understaffed and restricting outside visitors. “On-the-ground community based organizations have already been the safety net for so many of our communities, for folks who have historically not been able to access care,” says Dr. Jamila Perritt, an OB/GYN who works in community health centers in Washington, D.C. “So those networks are really critical in this time.”

Partly as a result of these factors, more Black women in recent months have expressed interest in giving birthing outside of hospitals, says Angela Doyinsola Aina, interim executive director of Black Mamas Matter Alliance, a group that brings together community organizations working on Black maternal health around the country. Laboring at home or in a birthing center can have upsides, research shows; home births can be associated with fewer interventions such as induced labor or cesarean sections. But they also carry significant risks, doctors warn, particularly for Black women who are more likely than their white counterparts to have serious, and potentially fatal, pregnancy complications such as fibroids and preeclampsia.

The apparent growing interest in giving birth outside of hospitals is a trend that worries many mainstream health care providers. In April, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which do not recommend home births, addressed the issue. The AAP published new guidance, while ACOG put out a statement on birth settings emphasizing the need for “patient-centered, respectful care” while reiterating that hospitals and accredited birth centers are the safest options.

Still, midwives say their services have been in high demand. Nikia Grayson, a certified nurse midwife at Choices, a reproductive health care center in Memphis, has been flooded with calls and social media messages every day for months. “Any means they can reach me they’re gonna do it,” she says. She is the only midwife in Memphis that can do both hospital and home births, and until recently, she was the primary provider at the center’s midwifery clinic and its wellness clinic for transgender patients. As a Black midwife operating in a city whose population is 64% Black, Grayson says she intentionally focused her practice on making sure families of color have safe birth options. Choices is set to open a birth center in August, which will be the first one in Memphis, and it has added three other midwives on staff so that it can ramp up its load from the 15 births per month it was handling in the first part of the pandemic to 30 births per month.

The large caseloads are not ideal for pregnant people or midwives, Grayson says. But they are a direct result of the restrictive way that midwives are regulated, particularly in the South. The midwives that do practice in the U.S. are often limited in where they can deliver babies and cannot always get their services reimbursed by private insurance or Medicaid.

Legislation related to the pandemic response may address some of these problems. In March, the Black Maternal Health Caucus in Congress introduced a package of legislation they called the “Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act,” and some ideas included there, such as allowing providers to offer telehealth services across state lines and extending Medicaid postpartum coverage, are inching forward.

But even as midwives, doulas and community health groups are seeing demand increase, many are struggling amid the ongoing economic crisis. Small health centers operate on shoestring budgets in the best of times, and an increase in total demand does not change the economic picture if patients can’t pay for the services. “A lot of these organizations are really trying to figure out if they’re going to stay in business,” says Linda Goler Blount, president and CEO of Black Women’s Health Imperative, which provides health information to women, advocates for policy change and funds federally qualified health centers. “We’ve seen organizations have to lay staff off, so even if they don’t close the doors, at what level will they be functioning in the next six months?”

Back in Mississippi, Dr. Thompson of the Magnolia Medical Foundation is working with Nakeitra Burse, a public health educator and consultant, to build a new program that will pair Black women in Jackson, Mississippi with doulas and create a registry of doulas in the state. The goal is to establish a more sustainable network of trusted, community providers who can address high maternal mortality rates and help Black women safely get the care they need.

“We have to do what we have to do for our community and not wait for someone else to do it,” Burse says. “We are still holding the system accountable. But until then, we have to create and do for ourselves at this moment.”

[newstfionline]

Headlines

With worst to come, 3 in 4 hospitals already facing COVID-19 (AP) Three out of four U.S. hospitals surveyed are already treating patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, according to a federal report that finds hospitals expect to be overwhelmed as cases rocket toward their projected peak. A report due out Monday from a federal watchdog agency warns that different, widely reported problems are feeding off each other in a vicious cycle. Such problems include insufficient tests, slow results, scarcity of protective gear, the shortage of breathing machines for seriously ill patients and burned-out staffs anxious for their own safety. “There’s this sort of domino effect,” said Ann Maxwell, an assistant inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services. “These challenges play off each other and exacerbate the situation. There’s a cascade effect.”

Americans hit by economic shocks as confusion, stumbles undermine Trump’s stimulus effort (Washington Post) The Trump administration has stumbled in its initial push to implement the $2 trillion coronavirus aid package, with confusion and fear mounting among small businesses, workers and the newly unemployed since the bill was signed into law late last month. Small-business owners have reported delays in getting approved for loans without which they will close their doors, while others say they have been denied altogether by their lenders and do not understand why. The law’s provision to boost unemployment benefits has become tangled in dated and overwhelmed state bureaucracies, as an unprecedented avalanche of jobless Americans seeks aid. Officials at the Internal Revenue Service have warned that $1,200 relief checks may not reach many Americans until August or September if they haven’t already given their direct-deposit information to the government. Taxpayers in need of answers from the IRS amid a rapidly changing job market are encountering dysfunctional government websites and unresponsive call centers that have become understaffed as federal workers stay home.

Army temporarily suspends basic training for new recruits (AP) In an effort to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, the U.S. Army announced Monday that it has temporarily suspended sending recruits to basic combat training. The two-week stop goes into effect immediately.

Texas to quarantine drivers entering from Louisiana (Washington Post) Texas will screen drivers who enter the state from coronavirus-stricken Louisiana, state officials said Sunday, to enforce a mandatory, two-week quarantine. Law enforcement officers will operate screening stations near the Texas-Louisiana state line, along interstate roads and highways. All drivers coming from Louisiana will be required to fill out a form with personal information, including a “designated quarantine location.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) also signed an executive order March 29 mandating a quarantine in his state on travelers coming from California, Washington state and four hard-hit metro areas, adding to a similar order placed on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Desperate hunt for food by Peru’s poor amid virus quarantine (AP) Pushing a shopping cart with two children, César Alegre emerges from the large, deteriorated house near Peru’s presidential palace that is shared by 45 families to search for food. Sometimes he begs in markets. Sometimes he sells candies. It is a task that was hard at the best of times, but with a month-long quarantine that has forced 32 million Peruvians to stay home and closed restaurants and food kitchens, it has become much harder. The pandemic has spotlighted the wide gap between rich and poor in Peru and elsewhere in Latin America, and economists say a looming recession worse than any since World War II could push the continent’s long-suffering poor into even more dire circumstances. “The economic impact of what is happening is unprecedented,” said Peru’s economy minister, María Alva.

Queen Elizabeth II addresses British people (NYT) Queen Elizabeth II urged the British people in a rare televised speech Sunday to show their self-discipline and quiet resolve during the coronavirus pandemic that has taken nearly 5,000 lives in the country. “I hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” the queen said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved to intensive care (AP) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his coronavirus symptoms worsened Monday, just a day after he was admitted for what were said to be routine tests. Downing St, said Johnson was conscious and does not require ventilation at the moment, but was in the intensive care unit in case he needed it later. It said Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputize for him. The 55-year-old leader had been quarantined in his Downing Street residence since being diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 26--the first known head of government to fall ill with the virus.

Finland, ‘Prepper Nation of the Nordics,’ Isn’t Worried About Masks (NYT) As some nations scramble to find protective gear to fight the coronavirus pandemic, Finland is sitting on an enviable stockpile of personal protective equipment like surgical masks, putting it ahead of less-prepared Nordic neighbors. The stockpile, considered one of Europe’s best and built up over years, includes not only medical supplies, but also oil, grains, agricultural tools and raw materials to make ammunition. “Finland is the prepper nation of the Nordics, always ready for a major catastrophe or a World War III,” said Magnus Hakenstad, a scholar at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. Though year after year Finland has ranked high on the list of happiest nations, its location and historical lessons have taught the nation of 5.5 million to prepare for the worst, Tomi Lounema, the chief executive of Finland’s National Emergency Supply Agency, said on Saturday. “It’s in the Finnish people’s DNA to be prepared,” Mr. Lounema said.

Greece quarantines second refugee camp (Foreign Policy) Greece has quarantined its second mainland refugee camp in the space of a week after an Afghan resident tested positive for the coronavirus in the Malakasa camp, near Athens. Malakasa now joins the Ritsona camp in central Greece, which was quarantined after 20 coronavirus cases were discovered.

Indian state blocking imports (Le Monde) In Goa, one of the richest states in India, famous among tourists for its picturesque beach resorts, finding food has become dangerously hard since a nationwide shutdown began two weeks ago. French daily Le Monde reports that the local governor has shut off any incoming food supply trucks, and stocks have been rapidly vanishing. Locals report that the population of northern Goa has almost nothing left to eat.

Coronavirus Strands China’s Students, in a Dilemma for Beijing (NYT) The coronavirus outbreak has stranded more than one million Chinese students in empty dormitories and fearful towns and cities around the world. Many of those overseas students want to flee back to China, where official numbers suggest that the authorities have made progress in containing the pandemic. But virtually all flights to and from China have been canceled as Beijing tries to keep infected travelers from reigniting the contagion there. Remaining seats are breathtakingly expensive. For students trapped in the United States, their families worry that tense relations between Beijing and Washington will hinder Chinese-run evacuation efforts. The stranded students have put Beijing in a bind. It is anxious to tame the coronavirus outbreak that raged through the country before it spread abroad, putting its economy in free fall. Bringing in people from abroad, the government believes, invites further spread. Yet China’s image is at stake.

Japan’s Abe to declare state of emergency to cover major cities Tokyo, Osaka as infections rise sharply (Washington Post) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will declare a state of emergency on Tuesday to cover seven prefectures, including Tokyo and the city of Osaka, most severely affected by the coronavirus outbreak, but promised no lockdowns like those implemented elsewhere. “The period will be for one month as a rough estimate, and this declaration is issued in order to ask for more cooperation from the public to reduce as much as possible people-to-people contact that could lead to infections, and to establish the medical system to deal with the situation,” he said. Abe said he would also announce an “unprecedented” economic rescue package on Tuesday equivalent to around 20 percent of the gross domestic product.

With Netanyahu under quarantine, Israeli government negotiations require shouting from his patio (Washington Post) As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival political leader Benny Gantz held talks about how to form a new government over recent days, they’ve been forced by the coronavirus to keep their distance and shout their negotiating terms at each other. Gantz, who agreed to a plan to annex parts of the West Bank next summer on Monday as talks for a unity government continued, has been forced to stand outside Netanyahu’s house and shout as the Israeli prime minister is under quarantine, according to reports in local media. Haaretz reported that a lengthy meeting between Gantz and Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem involved Gantz standing at an outdoor patio and yelling his negotiating points to Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister stayed inside the residence in his study, according to the reports.

[bigyack-com]

Her Grandmother Got the Coronavirus. Then So Did the Whole Family.

WUHAN, China — Bella Zhang hung an intravenous drip on a spindly tree branch and slumped down on a large stone planter outside the crowded hospital. Her mother and brother sat wearily beside her, their shoulders sagging, both also hooked up to their own drips. In recent days, Ms. Zhang, 25, a perfume saleswoman with tinted blue hair, had watched helplessly as one by one, her relatives were sickened by the coronavirus that was tearing through her hometown, Wuhan. First, her grandmother got it, then it spread to her grandfather and mother. She and her younger brother were next. The family had pleaded for help, but the city’s hospitals, faced with an extreme shortage of beds, could not take them. On Feb. 1, Grandfather Zhang died at home. “They tell us to wait,” thundered Ms. Zhang’s mother, Yang Ling. She nearly ripped the intravenous needle out of her hand as she waved her arms in frustration. “But wait until when? We’ve already lost one.” The city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus originated, is struggling to get the epidemic under control. The government has imposed a travel lockdown but that has exacerbated the challenge posed by its limited resources. Overwhelmed and understaffed, hospitals have turned away many sick residents like the Zhangs, forcing them to go home and quarantine themselves in small apartments where they risk infecting other family members. Nearly 17,000 people have been sickened in the city, and more than 680 have been killed, accounting for three-quarters of the total deaths in China from the virus. Faced with growing public anger and desperate to stop the spread, the authorities in recent days have been rounding up people with confirmed infections but only mild symptoms, and putting them in makeshift quarantine centers. The government is converting sports stadiums and exhibition venues into these centers, and has said they will house, in total, more than 10,000 patients. Beds are arranged close together and in tight rows, raising concerns about whether such dormitory-like facilities could inadvertently help spread other infectious diseases among the patients. Ms. Zhang, who was admitted to one of the centers on Thursday with her mother, a retiree, saw it as their only option to keep from infecting her father. Updated Feb. 5, 2020 Where has the virus spread? You can track its movement with this map. How is the United States being affected? There have been at least a dozen cases. American citizens and permanent residents who fly to the United States from China are now subject to a two-week quarantine. What if I’m traveling? Several countries, including the United States, have discouraged travel to China, and several airlines have canceled flights. Many travelers have been left in limbo while looking to change or cancel bookings. How do I keep myself and others safe? Washing your hands is the most important thing you can do. It was cold in the tall, repurposed exhibition center; bathrooms were limited; and there was little privacy. But the beds were heated with electric mattress pads, and medical teams checked their temperatures three times a day and gave out free medicines and meals. “At least someone cares now,” she said in a telephone call from the quarantine center. For Ms. Zhang’s family, the first signs of trouble emerged in the week leading up to the Lunar New Year, when her 70-year-old grandmother, who was in good health, had developed a fever and started coughing. By then, the new virus had been spreading in the city for weeks, though officials had mostly played it down. Even after the government finally acknowledged that it could be transmitted among people, the family didn’t think it was at risk because they spent most of their time indoors. They took her grandmother to a clinic, where the doctor prescribed medicine for a cold and sent her home. To contain the outbreak, the government restricted travel in and out of the city, shut down public transportation and banned most private cars on the roads. Like many of her fellow residents, Ms. Zhang was at first unworried. She posted memes on social media making light of the lockdown and passed the time by sorting trail mix. Her grandmother, who was staying with them for the holidays, continued to cough. Her fever would not recede. Then Ms. Zhang’s grandfather, already weak from lung cancer, suddenly took a turn for the worse. He had been using an oxygen machine to support his breathing for 30 minutes in the morning and again at night. Now he couldn’t breathe at all, and needed to be hooked up to the machine around the clock. He came down with a high fever. For four days he was so uncomfortable that he couldn’t sleep, Ms. Zhang said. Desperate to find help, Ms. Zhang and her family called everyone they could think of. But the hospitals were all full. Emergency responders told them they needed to secure a hospital bed first before an ambulance could be sent. Ms. Zhang was devastated to see her grandfather, who had helped raise her, nearing death. Overnight, her social media feed, normally full of food and travel photos, became a flood of urgent cries for help. In a last-ditch effort, she called a hotline for the city’s mayor. But an operator had no answers, and asked her what they planned to do. “You’re asking me, an ordinary citizen, how to resolve this?” she replied. She hung up. That afternoon, her grandfather died in the family’s apartment. Workers from a funeral home arrived to take his body away. They said that because he had possibly been infected with the virus, the family was not allowed to accompany the body and it had to be cremated immediately. But they had no time to mourn. Ms. Zhang’s grandmother was now deteriorating rapidly. They took her to a hospital, where a doctor said that her lungs appeared on a CT scan as almost entirely white — signs of severe pneumonia. She later tested positive for the coronavirus. She needed to be admitted to one of the hospitals in the city designated to handle coronavirus patients. There, doctors might be able to monitor her vital signs, treat her with antiviral and anti-H.I.V. drugs and provide her with oxygen support. But there were still no beds. Doctors later told Ms. Zhang and her mother they were infected too. Her younger brother, Allen, also tested positive. They were all told to return home. Her father, 50, was the only member of the family who had not been infected. He took to sleeping in the living room, away from the rest of them. They wore masks all the time, even as they slept, and took turns caring for the grandmother, who struggled to breathe and could barely get out of bed. Ms. Zhang was convinced it was only a matter of time before her father was infected, as well. They did not have any disinfectants or N95 respirators, heavy-duty masks that better protect against the virus. “Every day you’re living together, drinking and eating together, sitting together and watching the news,” Ms. Zhang said. “No matter how hard you try, of course he’s going to get it.” Her days quickly fell into a frantic routine. She would take her grandmother to the hospital to see a doctor around midnight, when the lines were shorter, to get medication. During the day, she returned to the hospital with her mother and waited in line. “What kind of government is this?” Ms. Yang, with her daughter by her side, said in a rapid-fire local dialect, her voice carrying across the hospital courtyard. “The news is always talking about how good everything is; they don’t even care about the ordinary people.” It wasn’t just the government’s slow response to the expanding epidemic that was infuriating. It was what felt like the denial of basic dignity. After Grandfather Zhang died, she said, he was taken away “like a dead pig or a dead dog.” They still didn’t know where his ashes were and had no time to think about funeral arrangements. “I can’t even save the people who are alive,” Ms. Yang said. “Now, all we can do is beg the heavens,” she said. “Begging anyone else is of no use.” Elsie Chen contributed research. Read the full article

[mastcomm]

Her Grandmother Got the Coronavirus. Then So Did the Whole Family.

WUHAN, China — Bella Zhang hung an intravenous drip on a spindly tree branch and slumped down on a large stone planter outside the crowded hospital. Her mother and brother sat wearily beside her, their shoulders sagging, both also hooked up to their own drips.

In recent days, Ms. Zhang, 25, had watched helplessly as one by one, her relatives were sickened by the coronavirus that was tearing through her hometown, Wuhan. First, her grandmother got it, then it spread to her grandfather and mother. She and her younger brother were next.

The family had pleaded for help, but the city’s hospitals, faced with an extreme shortage of beds, could not take them. On Feb. 1, Grandfather Zhang died at home.

“They tell us to wait,” thundered Ms. Zhang’s mother, Yang Ling, 48, speaking to reporters from The New York Times who visited the hospital.

She nearly ripped the intravenous needle out of her hand as she waved her arms in frustration. “But wait until when? We’ve already lost one.”

A reporter met the Zhangs when they were getting their IVs outside the hospital, and they relayed their story.

The city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus originated, is struggling to get the epidemic under control, exacerbated by a lockdown as well as the government’s limited resources and options. Overwhelmed and understaffed, hospitals have turned away many sick residents like the Zhangs, forcing them to go home and quarantine themselves in small apartments where they risk infecting other family members.

Nearly 15,000 people have been sickened in the city, and more than 600 have been killed, accounting for three-quarters of the total deaths in China from the virus. Faced with growing public anger and desperate to stop the spread, the authorities in recent days have been rounding up patients with mild symptoms and putting them into makeshift quarantine centers, which create their own separate challenges for treatment.

Such centers have been set up in sports stadiums and exhibition venues to house several thousand patients in total, with beds arranged close together and in tight rows. The strategy has raised concerns about whether such dormitory-like facilities could inadvertently help spread other infectious diseases among the patients.

Updated Feb. 5, 2020

Where has the virus spread? You can track its movement with this map.

How is the United States being affected? There have been at least a dozen cases. American citizens and permanent residents who fly to the United States from China are now subject to a two-week quarantine.

What if I’m traveling? Several countries, including the United States, have discouraged travel to China, and several airlines have canceled flights. Many travelers have been left in limbo while looking to change or cancel bookings.

How do I keep myself and others safe? Washing your hands is the most important thing you can do.

Ms. Zhang, who was admitted to one of the centers on Thursday with her mother, a retiree, saw it as their only option to keep from infecting her father.

It was cold in the tall, repurposed exhibition center; bathrooms were limited; and there was little privacy. But the beds were heated with electric mattress pads, and medical teams checked their temperatures three times a day and gave out free medicines and meals.

“At least someone cares now,” she said in a telephone call from the quarantine center.

For Ms. Zhang’s family, the first signs of trouble emerged in the week leading up to the Lunar New Year, when her 70-year-old grandmother, who was in good health, had a fever and started coughing.

By then, the new virus had been percolating in the city for weeks, but officials had mostly played it down. That week, the government finally disclosed that it was spreading among people. Ms. Zhang’s relatives didn’t think they were at risk because they had spent most of their time indoors. They took her grandmother to a clinic, where the doctor prescribed medicine for a cold and sent her home.

To contain the outbreak, the government locked down the city, shut down public transportation and banned most private cars on the roads. Like many of her fellow residents, Ms. Zhang, a perfume saleswoman with tinted blue hair and a love of travel, was at first unworried. She posted memes on social media making light of the lockdown and passed the time by sorting trail mix.

Her grandmother, who was staying with them for the holidays, continued to cough. Her fever would not recede.

Then Ms. Zhang’s grandfather, already weak from lung cancer, suddenly took a turn for the worse. He had been using an oxygen machine to support his breathing for 30 minutes in the morning and again at night. Now he couldn’t breathe at all, and needed to be hooked up to the machine around the clock. He came down with a high fever. For four days he was so uncomfortable that he couldn’t sleep, Ms. Zhang said.

Desperate to find help, Ms. Zhang and her family called everyone they could think of. But the hospitals were all full. Emergency responders told them they needed to secure a hospital bed first before an ambulance could be sent.

Ms. Zhang was devastated to see her grandfather, who had helped raise her, nearing death. Overnight, her social media feed, normally full of food and travel photos, became a flood of urgent cries for help. In a last-ditch effort, she called a hotline for the city’s mayor. But an operator had no answers, and asked her what they planned to do.

“You’re asking me, an ordinary citizen, how to resolve this?” responded Ms. Zhang, incredulous. She hung up.

That afternoon, her grandfather died in the family’s apartment.

Workers from a funeral home arrived to take his body away. They said that because he had possibly been infected with the virus, the family was not allowed to accompany the body and it had to be cremated immediately.

But they had no time to mourn. Ms. Zhang’s grandmother was now deteriorating rapidly. They took her to a hospital, where a doctor said that her lungs appeared on a CT scan as almost entirely white — signs of severe pneumonia. She later tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ms. Zhang’s grandmother needed to be admitted to one of the hospitals in the city designated to handle coronavirus patients. There, doctors may be able to monitor their vital signs, treat them with antiviral and anti-H.I.V. drugs and provide them with oxygen support.

But there were still no beds.

By then, doctors had told Ms. Zhang and her mother they were infected. Her younger brother, Allen, also tested positive. They were all told to return home.

Her father, 50, was the only member of the family who had not been infected. He took to sleeping in the living room, away from the rest of them. They wore masks all the time, even as they slept, and took turns caring for Ms. Zhang’s grandmother, who by now was struggling to breathe and could barely get out of bed.

But Ms. Zhang was convinced it was only a matter of time before her father was infected, as well. They did not have any disinfectants or N95 respirators, heavy-duty masks that better protect against the virus.

“Every day you’re living together, drinking and eating together, sitting together and watching the news,” Ms. Zhang said. “No matter how hard you try, of course he’s going to get it.”

For Ms. Zhang, her mother and her brother, their days quickly became a frantic routine.

They would take the grandmother to the hospital to see a doctor around midnight, when the lines were shorter, to get medication. During the day, they returned to the hospital with their mother and waited in line. Ms. Zhang’s mother could barely contain her frustration.

“What kind of government is this?” Ms. Yang said in a rapid-fire local dialect, her voice carrying across the hospital courtyard. “The news is always talking about how good everything is; they don’t even care about the ordinary people.”

It wasn’t just the government’s slow response to the expanding epidemic that infuriated Ms. Yang. It was what felt like the denial of basic dignity. After Grandfather Zhang died, she said, he was taken away “like a dead pig or a dead dog.” They still didn’t know where his ashes were and had no time to think about funeral arrangements.

“I can’t even save the people who are alive,” Ms. Yang said.

“Now, all we can do is beg the heavens,” she said. “Begging anyone else is of no use.”

Elsie Chen contributed research.

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