Happy Friday! Where yours truly has parsed approximately 4,346,276,986 coronavirus stories to bring you the most important ones 鈥� such as the fact that 鈥渦nder any circumstances鈥� because of the outbreak; that apparently despite the fact that health professionals say even healthy humans don鈥檛 need them; and that if you need of a cheat sheet on what facial hairstyles are officially called you can . (The 鈥渨alrus鈥� might be my favorite.)
More seriously, here鈥檚 what you need to know about the outbreak dominating global attention, sending stocks plunging and creating a booming demand for hand sanitizer. I can tell you one common thread running through coverage about experts鈥� advice: .
President Donald Trump cracked jokes about his germophobia and downplayed the severity of the coronavirus outbreak at a press conference this week, in which he put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the country鈥檚 coronavirus response. This raised immediate eyebrows, considering that under Pence鈥檚 watch Indiana weathered a major HIV outbreak largely attributed to decisions he made as governor.
By contrast, you have the CDC鈥檚 Dr. Nancy Messonnier, who has become a leading player in the crisis, saying it鈥檚 not a question of if but when the coronavirus will sweep into the U.S. She also said that she鈥檚 been talking with her kids about how to prepare and that 鈥渢he disruption to everyday life might be severe.鈥�
Not surprisingly, after all that whiplash, the administration decided all information released to the public must first get the OK from Pence.
Meanwhile, a new case out of California put a harsh spotlight on the deep flaws of the CDC鈥檚 original testing parameters. The patient 鈥� who may be the first in the U.S. with no link to traveling abroad 鈥� was in the hospital for more than 10 days before the CDC approved a coronavirus test. The delay exposed about 100 health workers to the virus as well as set back any attempts to contain people she鈥檇 been in contact with.
If a whistleblower is to be believed, those testing missteps weren鈥檛 the only ones made by the government in the early days of the response: New allegations have come to light that HHS workers who were sent to help with the U.S. evacuees weren鈥檛 given proper medical training or gear before being exposed to the patients.
Meanwhile, for a president who has tied his fate to the health of the stock markets, the global financial turmoil is more worrisome than ever.
One of the few good things about the coronavirus is that the vast majority of cases are mild. However, that鈥檚 also one of the things that might tip it into a pandemic. For more extreme illnesses (like Ebola), it鈥檚 far easier to isolate patients. But for those with symptoms that are essentially presenting as a mild cold, it鈥檚 harder to contain the spread.
On that note, it鈥檚 hard to tell just how lethal the disease is (and anyone who tells you otherwise, question their motives). Because so many cases are mild, some experts say we鈥檙e seeing only the tip of the iceberg, and the mortality rate would drop if we had a better sense of how many people are actually infected. Others argue that there鈥檚 no evidence that officials don鈥檛 have an accurate count.
Right now, from what鈥檚 available, it seems the death rate outside the epicenter in China was 0.7%. That鈥檚 still soberingly high, but also a long way away from SARS鈥� 10%.
As someone who has little kiddos in their life (and who affectionately calls them Typhoid Marys), I can鈥檛 help but include this story. Are kids innocent bystanders in this outbreak, getting infected if someone brings the virus into their households? Or are they, in fact, a population that is stealthily driving this epidemic, as they can do with the flu?
Globally, cases are climbing, with patients showing up in Lithuania, the Netherlands, Iran, Kuwait, the United Kingdom 鈥� you get the gist. Although we鈥檙e not really seeing it yet in Latin or South American countries beyond a Brazilian patient who had traveled to Italy, where cases skyrocketed 45% in one day.
In China, officials are tapping their tried-and-true propaganda playbook, but the anger that has boiled up over the government鈥檚 handling of the outbreak may be cracking the party鈥檚 stronghold. Meanwhile, authorities, in an ongoing attempt to contain the spread, are offering people more than $1,400 to self-report if they have coronavirus symptoms.
And South Korea gets a shoutout for implementing a very cool idea to create 鈥渄rive-thru鈥� testing for potential patients.
Remember, there are plenty more stories were those came from. If you鈥檙e interested in the full scope of coronavirus coverage, check out all our Morning Briefings from the week.
Believe it or not, there was other news this week! Democrats held a rowdy debate in South Carolina ahead of Super Tuesday, where Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) fielded the inevitable attacks that come with being a front-runner. He was put on the hot spot about topics ranging from the cost of his 鈥淢edicare for All鈥� plan to his past stance on guns.
Sanders (after on how he was going to pay for his ambitious agenda) said that 鈥溾�楳edicare for All鈥� will lower health care costs in this country by $450 billion a year and save the lives of 68,000 people who would otherwise have died.鈥� But experts are skeptical of the findings.
KHN: Sanders Embraces New Study That Lowers 鈥楳edicare For All鈥檚鈥� Cost, But Skepticism Abounds
A federal appeals court upheld a Trump administration ban on federally funded family planning centers referring women for abortions, arguing that the rule is slightly less restrictive than a 1988 version upheld by the Supreme Court. What鈥檚 interesting to note is that the court was the California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Trump has now named 10 judges to the 9th Circuit 鈥� more than one-third of its active judges 鈥� compared with seven appointed by President Barack Obama over eight years.
Beyond fighting for survival in the courts, abortion clinics are often faced with so many fees and unexpected costs that they can face closure from their financial burdens alone. Among those are: security to protect staff and patients; airfare to get doctors to areas lacking trained physicians willing to perform abortions; higher rates for contractors concerned about protesters and boycotts; more stringent loan terms; insurance that can be canceled unexpectedly; and, for some clinic owners, legal fees for defending the constitutionality of the procedure.
Vocal opposition continues to pour in about the arcane Medicaid rule change that could reduce Medicaid spending by 6% to 8%, or $37 billion to $49 billion, a year. The Trump administration says the change would increase transparency and prevent abuses that enable states to draw down more federal money than they鈥檙e entitled to. But, so far, more than 4,200 organizations or individuals from both parties are sounding alarm bells about it.
In the miscellaneous file for the week:
鈥� The Sacklers, under fire over allegations about their role in the opioid crisis, turned to Mike Bloomberg to help them manage their reputation. Will that haunt him in his presidential bid?
鈥� Are some people immune to Alzheimer鈥檚? Scientists studying donated brains have identified patients who have all the markers for the debilitating disease but didn鈥檛 seem to have any symptoms when alive. The findings offer hope that the seemingly inherent protection could be replicated by a drug.
鈥� America is facing an autopsy crisis: Large swaths of the country don鈥檛 have a medical examiner. Bodies are even having to be shipped across state lines if an autopsy is needed. At one point the problem was so bad that Oklahoma鈥檚 overloaded medical examiner declined to perform autopsies on people over 40 who died of unexplained causes.
鈥� Colorado is continuing to move forward with plans for its public option, this week unveiling reimbursement rates that officials say would keep hospitals profitable under the system. Hospitals were 鈥� uh 鈥� a little skeptical of those claims.
鈥� In this terrifying story, a student died after calling 911 because the responders couldn鈥檛 locate him.
That鈥檚 it from me! Have a great weekend.