Tear-Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak ‘A Recipe For Disaster’

By Sandra R. Nicholson 1 day ago

Montana’s Tribal Nations Preserve COVID Restrictions To Preserve Their Cultures

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

COVID-19 Overwhelms Border ICUs | Kaiser Health News

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Protests And The Pandemic

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

Efforts To Curb Congenital Syphilis Falter In COVID’s Shadow

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

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Tear-Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak ‘A Recipe For Disaster’

By Sandra R. Nicholson 1 day ago

Montana’s Tribal Nations Preserve COVID Restrictions To Preserve Their Cultures

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

COVID-19 Overwhelms Border ICUs | Kaiser Health News

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Protests And The Pandemic

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

Tear-Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak ‘A Recipe For Disaster’

By Sandra R. Nicholson 1 day ago

In nationwide demonstrations sparked by the killing of George Floyd in police custody, protesters have been frequently pepper-sprayed or enveloped in clouds of tear gas. These crowd-control weapons are rarely lethal, but in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, there are strong calls for police to stop using these chemical irritants because they can damage the body in ways that can spread the coronavirus and increase the severity of COVID-19.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, some experts said additional research was needed on the risks of tear gas — an umbrella term for several chemical “riot-control agents” used by law enforcement. It’s known that the chemicals can have both immediate and long-term health effects.

Their widespread use in recent weeks while an infectious disease — for which there is no vaccine — continues to spread across the U.S., has stunned experts and physicians. The coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19

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Montana’s Tribal Nations Preserve COVID Restrictions To Preserve Their Cultures

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

As Montana plows forward with its reopening, including throwing open the doors to tourism on June 1, the outlook is starkly different for members of the state’s Native American nations, which have approached the coronavirus with greater caution and stricter controls.

For members of the state’s far-flung tribes, who make up nearly 7% of Montana’s population of roughly 1 million, protective attitudes toward elders and cultural heritage have shaped a pandemic response around defending the most vulnerable rather than prioritizing economics. Tribal leaders across the state say reservation shutdowns and stay-at-home orders will continue for now, as widespread, proactive testing for the virus on reservations gets underway.

“For the most part, in general, wider society has put more value on the young, not so much on elderly and the information and experience and knowledge,” said Sharon Stewart-Peregoy, a

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COVID-19 Overwhelms Border ICUs | Kaiser Health News

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Even as most California hospitals have avoided an incapacitating surge in coronavirus patients, some facilities near the Mexican border have been overwhelmed. They include El Centro Regional Medical Center in Imperial County and Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista in San Diego County, which link the spike in COVID-19 patients to their communities’ cross-border lifestyle.

Some U.S. citizens and legal residents who live in Mexico are crossing the border from Tijuana and Mexicali into the U.S. for treatment. Dr. Juan Tovar, an emergency physician and chief operations executive for Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista, said 48% of COVID-positive patients who visited the emergency room between May 24 and May 30 said they had recently traveled to Mexico. That figure jumped to 60% between May 31 and June 2. The hospital is about 10 miles from the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the busiest land border crossing in

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KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Protests And The Pandemic

By Sandra R. Nicholson 2 days ago

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud.

Following the death of George Floyd while in custody in Minneapolis, protests have mushroomed around the U.S. to decry police violence, raising concerns among public health officials about the potential for further spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the economic toll of the continuing pandemic is prompting some states to cancel or scale back plans to expand health coverage to more of their residents.

And President Donald Trump said he will withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization. But it seems he lacks the legal authority to do that on his own.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Mary Agnes Carey of KHN and Joanne Kenen of Politico.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

  • Although public health officials are warning about the dangers of a resurgence of COVID-19 caused
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