Florida is a cautionary tale. #PublicHealth funding dropped precipitously, leaving the state especially unprepared for the worst health crisis in a century, according to an KHN/@AP investigation. 1/7
Florida slashed local health departments’ staffing from 12,422 in 2010 to 9,125 in 2019, our analysis of state data showed #UnderfundedUnderThreat. 2/7
The state cut spending even as its population grew, causing per person health department spending to drop by 41%, falling faster and further than the rest of the nation. 3/7
Health experts blame the Florida funding cuts on the Great Recession and choices by a series of governors who wanted to move publicly funded state services to for-profit companies. 4/7
Even before the pandemic hit, that meant fewer disease investigators and public health nurses. When COVID-19 came, the state was caught flat-footed when it mattered most. 5/7
Meanwhile, Floridians got mixed messages about masks from political leaders. Voices within health departments were muzzled. Confirmed cases soared past half a million, deaths to more than 10,000. 6/7
“The reality, unfortunately, is people are going to die because of the irresponsibility of the decisions being made by the people crafting the budgets,” said Ron Bialek of @ThePHF. 7/7
1/8 History holds lessons for why low vaccination rates for children are so risky and why officials should strongly consider school mandates for the covid vaccine.
2/8 When explorers brought diseases like measles to Native populations of the New World, they killed up to an estimated 80% to 95% of the Indigenous population in repeated outbreaks over the ensuing 100 to 150 years.
3/8 Measles came back to Hawaii in 1848 and started an epidemic that killed one-quarter of the Native population, by one estimate.
Daniel Prude’s family knew he needed psychiatric care and tried to get it for him. Instead, his encounter with police hours after he was released from Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, proved deadly.
Police would find Daniel minutes later ― naked, acting irrationally. Because he spat in the direction of officers and allegedly said he had the novel #coronavirus, officers placed a white hood, called a “spit hood,” over his head.
When he started trying to stand up, despite being restrained by handcuffs, an officer placed much of his body weight over Daniel’s head and pushed it into the pavement.
Daniel died a week later when his family took him off life support.
Matthew Fentress was just 25 when he passed out while stuffing cannolis as a cook for a senior living community six years ago. Doctors diagnosed him with viral cardiomyopathy, #heartdisease that developed after a bout of the flu. #BilloftheMonth
Three years later, the Kentucky man’s condition had worsened, and doctors placed him in a medically induced coma and inserted a pacemaker and defibrillator. #BilloftheMonth
It may take years after these coronavirus controversies for the CDC to restore its credibility with the public, no matter who is elected president. Here's a quote from @leonardkl. 👇
The #AffordableCareAct has become a political vulnerability for Republican officials, who have no interest in reopening the debate on it during this campaign. Here's a quote from @JoanneKenen. 👇 #Election2020
Jody Mares is the fourth healthcare worker from New Mexico that KHN/The Guardian have confirmed and added to our database. He kept residents in nursing homes laughing for decades.
Dr. Reza Chowdhury was a trusted voice in New York's Bengali community. His virtual funeral surpassed 500 guests.