Pandemics Archives

Dr. LaVerne M. Green on Public Health and the Parallels Between the HIV and Covid-19 Pandemics

October 13, 2020

From childhood, Dr. LaVerne M. Green has had her heart in community healthcare. Born in New Orleans, she pursued degrees in nursing from Dillard University and William Carey College, then capped off her education with a doctorate in nursing practice. Throughout her career, she’s sought opportunities to care for underserved populations.

In 1986, following nursing positions with Veteran’s Hospital in New Orleans and Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver, Green began her career as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS). Her first assignment was in mental health at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., a division of the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Green retired from the USPHS in 2012, but not for long—she took a position as associate professor of nursing at Trinity University in D.C.

Now 66, Green put down roots in Bradenton

The pandemic’s true toll: Deaths are up by 27%, study finds | Coronavirus

October 13, 2020

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The coronavirus pandemic in Louisiana has marked some of the deadliest months on record for the state. From March 1 to August 1, about 24,000 people died, a 27% increase compared to the same five-month span in at least the last six years, according to a new study analyzing deaths during the pandemic.

Those cases are what scientists call excess deaths — the gap between reported deaths and expected deaths. The loss of life reflects the true toll of the virus, which impacts far greater numbers than those who die after a COVID-19 infection.

In the past seven months, Louisiana hospitals have had to meet countless challenges as the coronavirus strained their staff and hospital capacity.

Louisiana’s increase is higher than the U.S. average, which was 20%, according to the analysis, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association. Of all states, Louisiana ranked fourth for its per

Pandemic’s total cost to America: $16 trillion

October 12, 2020

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The coronavirus pandemic will end up costing Americans $16 trillion, far more than anyone predicted when the virus first emerged in the U.S. back in March, according to a new study released on Monday.

a group of people in a room: Ohio reopens: Malls reopen to few customers

© Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
Ohio reopens: Malls reopen to few customers

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was co-authored by former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Harvard University economist David Cutler. Summers was also a top economic adviser to Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and is a former president of Harvard.

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Their estimated cost includes a theoretical estimate for the value of a human life, and is spread out over the next decade. It also relies on an estimate that the eventual U.S. death toll from the pandemic will more than triple by the end of next year.

But $16 trillion is still an eye-popping number, and underscores

Pandemic’s Fiscal Bite Forces Fairview Health To Close Clinics, Slash Jobs

October 7, 2020

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Others in the news include the nation’s Catholic health system, Hendrick Health System, Shannon Health System, Community Health Systems, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Novant Health, Walden Biosciences, ARCH Venture Partners, UCB Ventures and Virta Health.

AP:
Fairview Health To Close 16 Clinics, Cut 900 Jobs

A Minneapolis health care system says the coronavirus pandemic has caused deep operating losses, forcing it to close 16 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin and reduce its workforce by 900 employees. Fairview Health also plans to shut down Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul that had been handling COVID-19 patients and transfer that care to St. Joseph’s Hospital. Inpatient mental health care will continue at the downtown St. Paul hospital at least through 2021. (10/6)

Modern Healthcare:
Catholic Health System Growth Threatens Patient Access, Advocacy Group Argues

Catholic health system has significantly grown in the U.S. since 2001, a trend that could hamper patients’ ability

D.C. hunger report details pandemic’s effects in city

October 1, 2020

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Nearly 150,000 District residents have filed for unemployment insurance as business closures during the coronavirus pandemic led to reduced hours and layoffs. And many residents have applied for food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“I’m saddened by the fact that the numbers spiked up,” said George Jones, chief executive of Bread for the City, a nonprofit group that provides food, medical care and legal services to low-income D.C. residents. “But I’m not surprised, because we’ve seen similar spikes in our own food pantry and demand for food there.”

Before the pandemic, Bread for the City served 400 households in the District on its busiest days, Jones said. Now, the organization is distributing food to 1,000 households a day. The Capital Area Food Bank’s nonprofit partner network, which includes Bread for the City and serves the Greater Washington region, has seen increases between 30 and 400 percent, according to

UN chief cites pandemic’s ‘unprecedent toll’

September 30, 2020

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UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations chief says the COVID-19 pandemic has taken “an unprecedent toll” especially on the economies of many developing countries and the world has not responded with “the massive and urgent support those countries and communities need.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that in the United States, Canada, Europe and most of the developed world, governments have adopted packages valued in double-digits of GDP to help tackle the coronavirus crisis and its impact.

“The problem is to mobilize the resources to allow the developing countries to be able to do the same,” he told a joint press conference Tuesday with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who have been jointly spearheading high-level meetings to try to raise the resources.

Guterres urged the international community to increase resources to the International Monetary Fund, including through a new allocation of special drawing rights and

The Pandemic’s Outsized Effect on Women’s Mental Health

September 27, 2020

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COVID-19 is a devilishly versatile disease, attacking all manner of body systems and doing all manner of damage—to the lungs, the heart, the liver, the kidneys. Though it doesn’t attack the mind directly, the pandemic the virus has caused has been devastating to mental health, and in many cases, the most vulnerable group is women.

In a new study conducted by CARE, a non-profit international aid organization, investigators have found that while almost nobody is spared from the anxiety, worry and overall emotional fatigue of the coronavirus pandemic, women are almost three times as likely as men to report suffering from significant mental health consequences (27% compared to 10%), including anxiety, loss of appetite, inability to sleep and trouble completing everyday tasks.

The study was ambitious, involving surveys of 10,400 women and men in 38 countries including the U.S., as well as others in Latin America, Asia and the Middle

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Tag: Pandemics

Dr. LaVerne M. Green on Public Health and the Parallels Between the HIV and Covid-19 Pandemics

The pandemic’s true toll: Deaths are up by 27%, study finds | Coronavirus

Pandemic’s total cost to America: $16 trillion

Pandemic’s Fiscal Bite Forces Fairview Health To Close Clinics, Slash Jobs

D.C. hunger report details pandemic’s effects in city

UN chief cites pandemic’s ‘unprecedent toll’

The Pandemic’s Outsized Effect on Women’s Mental Health