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Apr 29, 2020, 11:34 PM (2 days ago)
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| CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING |
Last week,
we published a briefing that flip-flopped between bad news, and
good(ish) news. We’re balancing today’s briefing in a similar vein,
tempering the more negative with the more hopeful.
Today’s Coronavirus Briefing is 1,078 words and will take you five minutes to read. |
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| Top news |
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| Getty Images |
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The U.S. has topped 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases — the most reported cases in the world.
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The number of new virus
admissions at New York hospitals yesterday was below 1,000 for the
first time in over a month — down from more than 3,000 on April 4.
- As scientists at the Jenner Institute prepare for mass clinical trials involving more than 6,000 people, new tests show their vaccine is effective in monkeys.
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A recent study by Harvard researchers shows that 31 U.S. states are not testing enough to open up safely.
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Jet Blue is the first airline to make wearing a mask mandatory.
- Undoubtedly the saddest news we’ve ever reported: A top E.R. doctor who treated virus patients died on Sunday by suicide.
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| The Takeaway: |
| Bad. Good. Hopeful. Scary. Thank you. Very sad. |
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| Sponsored Content |
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| With
the COVID-19 outbreak causing an unprecedented impact on the Healthcare
Marketing Industry, non-personal promotion has never been more
critical. As HCPs are facing this crisis on both professional personal
fronts, supporting them through the delivery of your key messaging will
be important to the continued care of patients with existing illnesses
and chronic conditions. |
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| Medical breakthroughs |
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| Getty Images |
| This is all good, and aspirational news. |
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Alicia Lasek of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News
digs into a World Health Organization-affiliated study that found
weekly screening of healthcare and nursing home workers — regardless of
symptoms and using quick-result, point-of-care tests — would reduce
their contribution to transmission by about 25%.
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Also in McKnight’s, Danielle Brown reports
on a newly formed Democratic House taskforce calling for the immediate
distribution of $100 million in funding to long-term care facilities in
their infection control efforts. Lawmakers are also calling on the Trump
administration to ensure nursing homes and other long-term care
facilities are part of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care
Enhancement Act.
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Cancer Therapy Advisor
spoke to Dr. Melvin LK Chua, who is part of the radiation oncology and
medical sciences division at the National Cancer Centre Singapore, about
cancer care and coronavirus. The interview includes Dr. Chua’s
pioneering thoughts on why computed tomography (a medical imaging
procedure that produces images allowing the user to see inside an object
without cutting) might be a good testing method to supplement
polymerase chain reaction (a method of making copies of a DNA sample,
which allows scientists to amplify them to a large enough amount to
study in detail).
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Brian Park of Monthly Prescribing Reference
reveals that remestemcel-L looks promising for COVID-19 patients with
moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Mesoblast, an
Australian-based regenerative medicine company, announced data from a
phase 2/3 trial evaluating the drug in a trial being conducted at Mount
Sinai hospital in New York City. “We intend to rapidly complete the
randomized, placebo-controlled phase 2/3 trial in COVID-19 ARDS patients
to rigorously confirm that remestemcel-L improves survival in these
critically ill patients,” said Dr. Silviu Itescu, Mesoblast’s chief
executive director.
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| The Takeaway: |
| Fingers crossed we get to report positively about all of the above, in the coming weeks. |
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| Outlook is hazy |
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| Getty Images |
| A range of views of our various futures: revolutionary, hopeful, dark, and progressive |
- In the past few years, mental health has moved from being a niche interest to a mainstream concern across society. John Harrington, editor of PRWeek U.K., expresses
how the coronavirus crisis has given mental health new momentum, and
submits evidence of the quiet revolution changing PR for the better.
- Chelsea Heath, a graduating PR major at San Diego State University and Broom Student Fellow, penned an op-ed for PRWeek U.S. explaining how postponing college graduation puts the “bitter” in “bittersweet.”
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Rob McKinlay reports for PRWeek Middle East
that it’s a torrid time for PR in the region. A survey polled 72
organizations early this month, asking respondents about the impact of
COVID-19 on the Middle East PR industry and issues affecting Middle East
Public Relations Association members. More than 60% of respondents
reported a negative outlook for the remainder of 2020.
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In People Management, Dr. Duncan Brown investigates
just how much the coronavirus crisis has revealed the need for better
pay and career progression for those in undervalued sectors, aka our
newly designated “essential” workers.
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| The Takeaway: |
| A Magic 8-Ball seems like as plausible a barometer for what’s to come as anything, or anyone else these days. |
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| Into the great wide open |
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| Getty Images |
| Lately, for every Instagram post of someone’s elaborate meal is an outdoor post of their new-found gardening skills. |
- Nicola Bird, founder of A Little Peace of Mind and author of a best-selling book of the same name, is launching The Floral Project to help encourage children to spend less time on their devices and more time in the garden.
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Horticulture Week’s Matthew Appleby
takes a look at the local businesses and venue operators in Queen
Elizabeth Olympic Park that are donating goods, delivering food and
medicine and providing online support to help vulnerable people and key
workers during the coronavirus lockdown.
- After garden centers in the U.K.
were forced to close on March 23 as non-essential retail, The Sun
gardener and Horticulture Week columnist Peter Seabrook who lost his
wife of 60 years to coronavirus, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson pleading with him to allow garden centers, retail nurseries and gardens to open this weekend.
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Home gardening is blooming
around the world during coronavirus. U.S. seed company Burpee has sold
more seed in March than any time in its 144-year history thanks to all
the people working from home looking for activities to occupy their free
time and parents turning to gardening as an outdoor activity to do with
children. “Gardening may be a rare positive trend to emerge from the
crippling pandemic,” said Diane Blazek, executive director of the U.S.
industry group National Garden Bureau.
- Whether you’re grabbing a spade to
plant some new crops, venturing out for a stroll around the block or
decided to pull the kids “out of school” and hit the road to live à la Captain Fantastic, here’s a handy list of what’s open when, and where, across the U.S.
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| The Takeaway: |
| If the virus returns this winter, we’re all going to have to learn vertical indoor farming. |
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| Movies, a song, a poem |
| A brief rabbit hole of workplace nostalgia. |
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| See you tomorrow in shoulder pads and feathered hair — in quarantine no one’s around to see... |
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