Welcome to Thursday’s Overnight Health Care.
The U.S. has surpassed 2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, but it is likely many more are going undetected. Meanwhile, states are moving ahead with plans to allow businesses to reopen. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) is asking for a briefing next week with the White House coronavirus task force to explain the spike in cases in states like Texas and Arizona.
US showing signs of retreat in battle against COVID-19
When throngs of tourists and revelers left their homes over Memorial Day weekend, public health experts braced for a surge in coronavirus infections that could force a second round of painful shutdowns.
Two weeks later, that surge has hit places like Houston, Phoenix, South Carolina and Missouri. Week-over-week case counts are on the rise in half of all states. Only 16 states and the District of Columbia have seen their total case counts decline for two consecutive weeks.
But instead of new lockdowns to stop a second spike in cases, states are moving ahead with plans to allow most businesses to reopen, lifting stay-at-home orders and returning to something that resembles normal life.
“There is no — zero — discussion of re-tightening any measures to combat this trend. Instead, states are treating this as a one-way trip. That sets us up for a very dangerous fall, but potentially even for a dangerous summer,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development who oversaw the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance during the Obama administration.
The states: The average number of confirmed cases over a two-week period has at least doubled in Arizona, Arkansas, Oregon and Utah. In Texas, the number of people admitted to the hospital has grown 42 percent since Memorial Day. Arizona’s top health official has urged hospitals to activate their emergency plans.
Read more here.
Schumer requests briefing with White House coronavirus task force as cases rise
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked the White House coronavirus task force to brief Senate Democrats next week on the status of the pandemic as several states begin to see surges in new cases.
Schumer said that the briefing was needed “to wrest the focus back” on the coronavirus.
“As the president continues to fixate on the stock market and Senate Republicans are ready to prematurely declare victory, we need to wrest the focus back to this crucial issue,” Schumer said Thursday from the Senate floor.
“We need to understand why these spikes are happening and how to adapt our national response,” he added.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Read more here.
Regeneron begins clinical trials of potential coronavirus antibody treatment
There’s new progress in a potentially promising type of treatment for coronavirus.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced Thursday that it has begun clinical trials on a potential treatment for the coronavirus using antibodies that the body produces to fight the virus.
Regeneron is testing a cocktail of two antibodies to both treat and prevent the coronavirus, developed using people who have recovered from COVID-19 as well as genetically modified mice.
The company did not give a firm timeline for its work, but these antibody cocktails could be ready sooner than a vaccine.
A competitor company also working on the idea, Eli Lilly, said its antibody treatment could be as ready as early as September; it started trials earlier this month.
In non-coronavirus news….Hoyer: House will vote soon on bill to improve ObamaCare
Remember ObamaCare?
Well, the House will vote the week of June 29th on a bill aimed at improving the Affordable Care Act (ACA), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday.
Hoyer said the measure would help improve the affordability of plans under the law.
“We’re going to meet on the Affordable Care Act, trying to bring the costs of premiums and co-pays and deductibles in the Affordable Care Act down to a place where people can in fact afford them,” Hoyer said during a webinar hosted by the law firm Baker Hostetler.
The exact details of the measure are not yet clear, though sources said the bill will increase the subsidies that help people afford premiums, as well as other items aimed at strengthening the law.
Reminder: The measure is not likely to go anywhere in the Senate, given the Republican opposition to the ACA.
CMS warns nursing homes against seizing residents’ stimulus checks
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said Thursday that nursing homes that confiscate residents’ coronavirus stimulus payments could be subject to federal enforcement actions, including possible removal from participating in Medicaid and Medicare programs.
CMS said in a news release that it is aware of allegations that some nursing homes are demanding residents’ payments, and that the practice is prohibited. The agency said that it has not received specific complaints about this practice but wants to inform nursing home residents of their rights while warning facilities of the potential consequences of seizing residents’ checks.
CMS’s message comes after state attorneys general have been reporting that they’ve had complaints of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities requiring residents on Medicaid to sign over their payments. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have been asking federal agencies to help protect residents, with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) urging CMS to issue guidance to nursing homes and residents.
Read more here.
The next COVID-19 challenge: Convincing people to get flu shots
Public health officials, doctors and pharmacists who have struggled for decades to convince Americans to get the flu shot are warning it is now more important than ever to get vaccinated as the U.S. faces a potential second wave of COVID-19 in the fall.
Coinciding flu and COVID-19 outbreaks could overwhelm hospitals and drain resources, threatening lives and the response to the pandemic.
Getting vaccinated could keep thousands of flu patients out of the hospitals and preserve resources that are urgently needed for COVID-19, experts say.
“We are going to try to encourage people, urge them, implore them even, to come out and roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated so we can mitigate the impact of this season of viral attack,” said William Schaffner, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
Public health agencies and groups are gearing up for a massive flu vaccination campaign beginning later this summer that will hone in the importance of getting the shot as a way to help the country get through the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more here.
What we’re reading:
Federal help falters as nursing homes run shot of protective equipment (Kaiser Health News)
Coronavirus immunity is a mystery. Scientists are trying to crack the case (STAT)
These people have been sick with coronavirus for more than 60 days (The Washington Post)
State by state
Dr. Amy Acton steps down as Ohio state health director (cleveland.com)
Florida Medicaid enrollment jumps amid pandemic (The News Service of Florida)