Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
It's Not The Heat, It's The COVID
Any hopes that summer’s high temperatures might slow the spread of the coronavirus were smashed in June and July by skyrocketing cases across the country, especially in some of the warmest states. Colin Carlson wasn’t a bit surprised that summer heat failed to curb the virus that causes COVID-19, which has claimed more than 138,000 lives in the U.S. That notion, no matter how many times it was repeated, was never supported by science, said Carlson, an assistant research professor at Georgetown University who studies the relationship between climate change and infectious disease. (Voyles Pulver, 7/17)
Boston is in the middle of its first heatwave of the summer. Usually, there are many ways to escape the heat, be it turning on the air conditioning, going to the mall or movies, or visiting a community center or pool. But for those who don't have air conditioning in their homes, or can't afford to run it, this year is particularly hard, because COVID-19 restrictions and physical distancing guidelines have limited where people can go to cool off. So what do they do? (Alston and Dearing, 7/20)
An East Coast heat wave that's triggered advisories and excessive heat warnings, combined with the U.S.'s ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, could force vulnerable people into making hard choices about their health, experts say. This week's heat index, which refers to how hot it feels outside, is expected to exceed 100 degrees in cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. (Schumaker, 7/20)
