Today’s updaate will start with a look at Saturday’s interview of Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Deborah Birx on Watters’ World.
While the segment was wide-ranging, the most interesting part was her critique of the media coverage of the last briefing. Specifically, Birx was asked to comment on President Donald Trump’s query regarding disinfectants.
“We heard from DHS [Department of Homeland Security], one of the scientists on Thursday say that sunlight, increased temperature and humidity could have an effect on killing the virus in the air, on surfaces,” host Jesse Watters said on “Watters’ World” Saturday. “And the president spitballing and he’s asking questions: Would it be possible to maybe target the virus through a cure using certain ingredients or using sunlight?””You didn’t believe the president was putting anybody in danger, did you?” Watters asked Birx.”No, when [he] gets new information, he likes to talk that through out loud and really have that dialogue,” Birx said. “And so that’s what dialogue he was having.”
Watters asked if the media coverage has been fair throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Birx reviewed her vast, international media experience and noted:
“I think the media is very slicey and dicey in how they put sentences together in order to create headlines. We know for millennials in other studies that some people may only read the headlines…and if there is not a graphic, they’re not going to look any further than that.”I think we have to be responsible about our headlines. I think often the reporting may be accurate in paragraph 3, 4 and 5. But I’m not sure how many people get to paragraph 3, 4 and 5. And I think the responsibility that the press has is to really ensure the headlines reflect the science and data that is in the piece itself.”
Truly, the good doctor does know how to diagnose a disease. The full segment is below:
Canada becomes the latest country to receive defective protective equipment from China.
Canada’s public health authority says around 1 million KN95 respirators acquired from China have failed to meet federal Covid-19 standards for use by front-line health professionals.As a result, the federal government did not dispense the noncomplying masks to equipment-hungry provinces and territories, said Eric Morrissette a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada.The failure of these respirators to meet Canadian requirements is yet another challenge for the country as it fights to secure PPE and medical supplies amid what has become a ferocious global competition.
Nebraska becomes the latest state to start the process of reopening the economy.
By May 4, diners can begin returning to restaurants in the Omaha area and several other areas of Nebraska lightly impacted by the coronavirus, Gov. Pete Ricketts announced on Friday.The decision to begin relaxing the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, the governor said, was based on “hard data” that hospitals and intensive care units are not being swamped, and not on pressure to reopen the economy.“If we’re not overwhelming our health care system, we’re winning,” Ricketts said.The decision also includes a resumption of religious services, weddings and funerals, with restrictions. Tattoo parlors, hair salons and massage studios will also be allowed to reopen. And child care centers will be allowed to have 15 children per room, up from 10.
Recent news about the success of ventilator treatment has been grim: Nearly all coronavirus patients who needed ventilators in New York’s largest health system to help them breathe died. However, Chicago doctors are reporting ventilator alternatives that are successful.
Doctors at the University of Chicago Medicine are seeing “truly remarkable” results using high-flow nasal cannulas rather than ventilators and intubation to treat some COVID-19 patients.High-flow nasal cannulas, or HFNCs, are non-invasive nasal prongs that sit below the nostrils and blow large volumes of warm, humidified oxygen into the nose and lungs.A team from UChicago Medicine’s emergency room took dozens of COVID-19 patients who were in respiratory distress and gave them HFNCs instead of putting them on ventilators. The patients all fared extremely well, and only one of them required intubation after 10 days.“The success we’ve had has been truly remarkable,” said Michael O’Connor, MD, UChicago Medicine’s Director of Critical Care Medicine.
Tests showing sunlight can kill the coronavirus have inspired thousands to ignore the California stay-at-home orders.
Thousands of Californians flocked to open beaches during a heatwave Friday despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pleas for them to stay home.The nation’s most populous state recorded its deadliest day yet in the pandemic, with 115 fatalities in the 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday. As of Thursday there were more than 40,000 confirmed cases in the state; the death toll stands at 1,597.But Californians locked down for weeks during the coronavirus pandemic came back to local beaches as the weather warmed, prompting Gov. Newsom on Friday to plead for social distancing during the continued heat wave expected this weekend.Newsom tweeted Friday: ‘It’s going to be nice outside this weekend. You might be feeling cooped up. Ready for life to go back to “normal.” But can’t stress this enough: CA can only keep flattening the curve if we stay home and practice physical distancing. You have the power to literally save lives.’California has been under a mandatory stay-at-home order since March 19.
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