Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
On March 9, I wrote a post titled “COVID-19 in context” which showed that COVID-19 (annualized) death rate would make it the the 27th leading cause of death worldwide. By March 21st, it was the 17th leading cause of death. Now, on March 31st, COVID-19 is the 13th leading cause of death (worldwide), if we…
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has been passed by the Senate and signed by the President. There are mixed opinions about this specific bill, but certainly a bailout/relief package of some size was needed. What is in the package? The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) has a nice visualization.
COVID-19 Links What’s coming with COVID-19? The cost of sending everyone checks. Hotel industry cuts 40% of workers due to COVID-19. Inter Miami promotes social distancing. NBA player’s mom in coma due to COVID-19 Other links: What’s in the bailout bill. Decreasing marginal returns to drunk driving stringency? Did Medicaid expansion increase access to opioid…
As for other “moneyed interests,” no fewer than 30 Big Pharma and small biotech firms are racing for treatments and vaccines. Moderna turned around a vaccine batch in just 42 days. Gilead Sciences is already in Phase 3 trials for its remdesivir treatment for Covid-19. Straight off President Trump’s announcement of FDA approval for antimalarial…
On March 9, I wrote a post titled “COVID-19 in context” which showed that COVID-19 was the 27th leading cause of death worldwide. Now that we are two weeks later, it is worth revisiting where we are. As you can see from the WHO situation report from March 22, the growth in the number of…
For those interested in a global view, the World Health Organization (WHO) Situation Reports are required daily reading. Key notes from the March 19, 2020 situation report: Seven new countries/territories/areas (African Region [3], Eastern Mediterranean Region [1], European Region [1], and Region of the Americas [2]) have reported cases of COVID-19. • The number of…
COVID-19 has caught the headlines, and for good reason. According to the WHO, there have been 109,577 confirmed cases (3993 new on 9 Mar 2020) and 3809 deaths (225 new as of 9 Mar 2020) The stock market has plunged. Sporting events have been halted all over Italy. And the rise of cases has been…
As COVID-19 spread, the city and county of Los Angeles have responded with a declaration of the state of emergency. NPR reports: Los Angeles declared a health emergency over the coronavirus Wednesday, citing the need to address the possibility of community transmission of the disease that has caused more than 3,200 deaths globally. The move…
The Economist has an interesting series of article (here and here) on covid-19, the new WHO name of the corona virus. One key issue is how strict containment efforts should be. These decisions are being made not just based on the potential to impact the health of a country’s population but also economic and political…
Today, the first case of coronavirus was identified in the U.S. The man was infected when he traveled to visit relatives in the Wuhan, China. Here are some helpful FAQs. Where has the coronavirus spread? The CDC website reports: Chinese authorities first identified the new coronavirus, which has resulted in close to 300 confirmed human…