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President Donald Trump wants to reopen the country soon. But public health experts from across the ideological spectrum insist that won鈥檛 be safe until the country can dramatically ramp up testing and contact tracing stemming from those infected. Meanwhile, the political sparring among the president and members of Congress and the nation鈥檚 governors is not helping Americans understand what they should do in this grave public health crisis.
This week鈥檚 panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider, Tami Luhby of CNN and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News.
Among the takeaways from this week鈥檚 podcast:
- The current outbreak of COVID-19 infecting more than 500 people at a pork processing plant in South Dakota is a cautionary tale for efforts to get back to work. That state is one that the president has been pointing to as having few cases and in a good position to resume ordinary life again.
- The shortages of masks, protective gear and some drugs related to COVID-19 continue. Much of that equipment and those drugs come from India and China, and the supply lines have been disrupted by outbreaks there.
- Although U.S. hospitals appear to have an adequate number of ventilators, for now, the drugs to help treat and sedate patients on the machines are in short supply. The Food and Drug Administration recently took the unusual step of allowing hospitals to make their own medications for those patients.
- The financial impact of the crisis is also affecting Americans鈥� health. Many people who are suddenly without jobs do not have access to food or insurance. Some larger companies that have been forced to close down, such as Macy鈥檚, furloughed employees, which means they retain benefits like health insurance, for now, even though they don鈥檛 have a paycheck.
- Despite getting a $100 billion bailout in the last federal financial relief bill, hospitals say they will need more money 鈥� and soon. But Democrats and Republicans in Congress are still bickering about how to move forward to procure more stimulus money.
Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too:
Julie Rovner: Politico Magazine鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Dan Diamond
Tami Luhby: Kaiser Health News鈥� 鈥�Furor Erupts: Billions Going To Hospitals Based On Medicare Billings, Not COVID-19,鈥� by Jay Hancock, Phil Galewitz and Elizabeth Lucas
Kimberly Leonard: FiveThirtyEight鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Kaleigh Rogers
Anna Edney: The New York Times鈥� 鈥�,鈥� by Rukmini Callimachi
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