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Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

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Tuesday, Oct 6 2020

Full Issue

Shock, Rage Flare Over Trump's 'Reckless' Tweet Downplaying COVID Danger

After spending three days in the hospital treated by an army of doctors and receiving cutting-edge care, President Donald Trump told Americans: "Don鈥檛 be afraid of Covid, Don鈥檛 let it dominate your life." Doctors and scientists were aghast at the advice that counters all public health messaging about a disease that has killed over 202,000 Americans so far. Many families of victims voiced devastation over the president's words.

The president鈥檚 comments drew outrage from scientists, ethicists and doctors, as well as some people whose relatives and friends were among the more than 210,000 people who have died in the United States. 鈥淚 am struggling for words 鈥 this is crazy,鈥 said Harald Schmidt, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania. 鈥淚t is just utterly irresponsible.鈥 Fiana Garza Tulip, 40, who lives in Brooklyn and lost her mother to the virus, wrote in a text message that she was 鈥渞eeling鈥 after reading Mr. Trump鈥檚 tweet, which she described as a 鈥渟lap in the face鈥 and a 鈥減ainful reminder that our president is unfit for office and that he does not care about human life.鈥 (Kolata and Caryn Rabin, 10/5)

Celebrities, political pundits, and critics responded to President Donald Trump's聽tweet聽to not聽"be afraid of Covid",聽calling the message "preposterous" and "dangerous" for the leader of a nation that has surpassed聽210,000 deaths to spread. (Behrmann, 10/5)

Reaction from some medical experts was swift - and sharply critical - after President Trump tweeted Monday that he would leave Walter Reed in a matter of hours despite his COVID-19 diagnosis. ...That didn鈥檛 sit well with Dr. Dara Kass, an associate clinical professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University. (Andersen, 10/5)

Dizzy with a soaring fever and unable to breathe, Scott Sedlacek had one thing going for him: He was among the first people to be treated for COVID-19 at Seattle鈥檚 Swedish Medical Center, and the doctors and nurses were able to give him plenty of attention.The 64-year-old recovered after being treated with a bronchial nebulizer in March, but the ensuing months have done little to dull the trauma of his illness. Hearing of President Donald Trump鈥檚 advice by Tweet and video on Monday not to fear the disease 鈥 as well as the president鈥檚 insistence on riding in a motorcade outside Walter Reed Medical Center and returning to the White House while still infectious 鈥 enraged him. 鈥淚鈥檓 so glad that he appears to be doing well, that he has doctors who can give him experimental drugs that aren鈥檛 available to the masses,鈥 Sedlacek said. 鈥淔or the rest of us, who are trying to protect ourselves, that behavior is an embarrassment.鈥 (Johnson and Prengaman, 10/6)

In other reaction 鈥

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Monday that President Trump 鈥渓et his guard down鈥 on the coronavirus, in some of the toughest comments yet from a GOP lawmaker about the president鈥檚 handling of the virus after Trump announced his positive test late Thursday night. 鈥淚 think he let his guard down, and I think in his desire to try to demonstrate that we are somehow coming out of this and that the danger is not still with us 鈥 I think he got out over his skis and frankly, I think it鈥檚 a lesson to all of us that we need to exercise self discipline,鈥 Cornyn told the Houston Chronicle editorial board. (Sullivan, 10/5)

President Donald Trump鈥檚 carefully crafted image of power and control took brutal blows over the past few days, as he and dozens of his closest confidants tested positive for the coronavirus. ... The challenge now for team Trump: How to spin the situation into a positive, less than a month from Election Day. His allies have tried to connect the president鈥檚 experience to the pain of millions of Americans affected by the deadly virus, but they haven鈥檛 used the experience to send a broader public-health message about a pandemic that has killed around 210,000 people in the U.S. They have instead presented, in a series of TV appearances and tweets, a testament to Trump鈥檚 resilience by asserting that he has overcome the disease. (Choi, 10/5)

Kaiser Health News: Analysis: 鈥楧on鈥檛 Be Afraid Of COVID鈥? Not Buying It, Unless Businesses Do Job Right聽

As stores, restaurants, airlines and offices try to lure clients back, this is what they need to do to earn my business: Make me feel safe 鈥 no, make me be as safe as possible. As I鈥檝e begun to explore old haunts, some are doing a fabulous job. Others are not. So my dollars will flow to the former, and I鈥檒l effectively boycott the latter. Think of it as ethical shopping, with a safety twist: I鈥檒l reward businesses that are seriously implementing recommended COVID-19 precautionary guidelines. And I鈥檒l punish, in my own tiny way, those who don鈥檛 take them to heart. (Rosenthal, 10/6)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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