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The COVID-19 pandemic has done untold economic damage in the United States, with businesses shuttering and people self-isolating at home to try to slow the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus. You might think hospitals and health care systems would be immune to this wave of financial ruin, since there’s no industry more crucial to America’s fight against the pandemic. You’d be wrong. The health care industry experienced an estimated $500 billion reduction in revenue during the first quarter of 2020, said Dr. David Shulkin, a former secretary of Veterans Affairs and former president and CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. “There’s no doubt our hospitals, health systems, health care providers in general have taken a significant financial hit during this crisis,” Shulkin said during a HealthDay Live Stream interview. “In general, the average hospital has seen about a 40% to 45% decrease in operating revenue during this period of time.” In response, hospitals and health care companies have announced a wave of layoffs and cutbacks: Mayo Clinic said it will cut $1.6 billion in employee pay after suffering a $3 billion revenue loss, including furloughs or shorter hours for about 30,000 staff members. Quest Diagnostics is furloughing nearly one in every 10 employees, more than 4,000 people, following a decline in testing that’s not related to the coronavirus. These cuts… read on >

Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that the White House coronavirus task force will likely disband within a month, even as the number of coronavirus cases climbed passed 1.2 million and the death toll passed 71,000. The slow shutdown will happen because of “the tremendous progress we’ve made as a country,” Pence said during a task force media briefing at the White House on Tuesday. While touring a mask factory in Arizona the same day, President Donald Trump acknowledged that reopening the country will mean more American lives are lost, but “we can’t keep our country closed. We have to open our country.” “I’m not saying anything is perfect,” Trump added, the Washington Post reported. “And, yes, will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open, and we have to get it open soon.” Trump’s statement came a day after an internal report from his administration predicted that reopening will come at a cost: 200,000 new coronavirus cases and 3,000 deaths every day by the end of May. Those projections, based on data collected by various government agencies, far exceed current levels of 30,000 new cases and 1,750 deaths a day, The New York Times reported. Troubling predictions came from more than one source on Monday: A forecasting model from University of Washington… read on >

Injuries in the United States take a huge toll on the workplace, new research shows. For the study, researchers analyzed millions of workplace health insurance claims among adults aged 18 to 64 between 2014 and 2015, with a specific focus on non-fatal injuries treated in emergency departments. The injuries examined in the study included burns, poisonings, gunshot wounds, falls, bites and stings, traffic crashes, and those caused by machinery and overexertion. The researchers found that such injuries result in an estimated loss of $1,590 and an average of 11 days off work per injured employee every year. There was a range from 1.5 days and $210 for bites and stings to 44 days and $6,196 for motorcycle injuries. Days taken off work ranged from four for other head, face and neck injuries to almost 20 for traumatic brain injuries, according to the study published online May 4 in the journal Injury Prevention. The findings don’t include caregivers, people who don’t have workplace health insurance, and those without jobs. Each year in the United States, there are more than 30 million visits to emergency care for non-fatal injuries, resulting in total medical costs of more than $133 billion, according to lead researcher Dr. Cora Peterson, from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Peterson and colleagues… read on >

As many states began to reopen their economies on Monday, a new internal report from the Trump administration predicts that will come at a cost: There will be 200,000 new coronavirus cases and 3,000 deaths every day by the end of May. Those projections, based on data collected by various government agencies, are way up from the current levels of 30,000 new cases and 1,750 deaths a day, The New York Times reported. Troubling predictions came from more than one source on Monday: A forecasting model from University of Washington researchers also raised its projections to more than 134,000 American deaths from COVID-19 by early August, the Times reported. That’s a doubling from the 60,000 total deaths that was previously predicted, an increase that the researchers said partly reflects “changes in mobility and social distancing policies,” the Times reported. All of the numbers illustrate a grim fact: Even though the country has essentially been in lockdown for the past seven weeks, the coronavirus prognosis hasn’t really changed. Still, 27 states had loosened at least some social distancing restrictions by Monday, a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis shows, the Times reported. But only 20 of those states meet the reopening criteria from the Trump administration. The remaining seven — Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska and Wyoming — are still showing increases in daily infections and… read on >

It’s good for you to take a run during the coronavirus pandemic — and safe if you take precautions, an expert says. “It’s good to get outside, get moving and get some sanity back in such a crazy time,” said Grace Neurohr, a physical therapist and running specialist at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Running “can provide some structure to your day and build a routine that can help keep you from feeling bored or unmotivated,” she explained in a hospital news release. “It also can help ward off depression or anxiety by releasing endorphins, hormones that help us feel happier, more positive and even hopeful.” There are also physical benefits, including improved heart and lung health. And those who are physically fit have stronger immune systems and an improved ability to fight infection, Neurohr said. If you run outdoors, remember the importance of social distancing and avoiding others. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent for CNN, recommends maintaining 10 to 12 feet of separation during a run, because you’re breathing heavily as you work out. Runners’ “breath cloud” may contain more virus, he points out. Pick times and routes that are less likely to be busy. “Try running earlier in the morning or during your lunch break to avoid the crowds,” Neurohr suggested. “Also, try running on trails rather than a busy park or sidewalk.… read on >

Love to cuddle up? It might bring a ‘mind meld,’ too, new research shows. People in close physical contact appear to have synchronized brain patterns, a revolutionary new MRI technique has revealed. A functional MRI scan of two people cuddling under a blanket showed that their brains appeared to be falling into similar patterns of action and response, as they took turns gently tapping the other’s lips, a Finnish research team reports. “In general terms, it shows how the brains of two individuals become ‘tuned in’ together during this kind of elementary human interaction,” said senior researcher Lauri Nummenmaa, head of the Human Emotion Systems laboratory at the University of Turku in Finland. Research of this sort could be valuable in dealing with conditions where people have trouble with social interactions, he said. “Such processes are disrupted in numerous conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder, and understanding the elementary mechanisms of sociability will help us in understanding these conditions better,” Nummenmaa said. Here’s how participants were positioned in the scanner: It’s not surprising that the 10 couples in the study — either friends or romantic partners — appeared to have had synchronized brain responses, said Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami. “There’s this intimacy that generates similar patterns of physiological and biochemical responses, and this is a good… read on >

The U.S. coronavirus death toll could reach 100,000, President Donald Trump predicted Sunday night. That number is far higher than the 60,000 lives lost that was predicted just a few weeks ago, but Trump continued to push states to reopen their economies. In a virtual town hall meeting on Fox News, Trump acknowledged that COVID-19 has proved more deadly than expected, but added that parks and beaches should begin reopening and schools should resume classes in the fall. “We’re going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 100,000 people,” he said. “That’s a horrible thing. We shouldn’t lose one person over this.” Even as the death toll predictions rose, a new analysis finds inadequate levels of testing for the coronavirus in 60% of states, many of which are reopening after weeks of lockdown. The analysis, conducted by the Associated Press, uses a 2% testing rate per month — a rate advised by federal officials that many public health experts still feel falls short. In a recent White House briefing, officials said each state would receive enough testing materials to test 2.6% of their populations in both May and June. Representatives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also offered another number — 2% — without explaining the reason for the discrepancy between the two rates. But according to the AP analysis, right now… read on >

The coronavirus pandemic has families spending plenty of “quality time” together, but living under the same roof 24 hours a day can tax relationships, an expert in child development says. This is “a completely new and unique situation,” said Murray Krantz, a professor in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University, in Tallahassee. Luckily, there are ways to reduce the risk of conflict, he noted. First, assess family members for resilience, which is “surprising strength in the face of adversity,” Krantz said, and encourage those people. For example, a person might show leadership by finding ways to make an ordinary recipe taste better, lightening the mood for everyone, or managing their emotions in a way that sets an example for others, he explained. “Don’t insist that it has to be you. You may not be the person who saves the day here,” Krantz said in a university news release. It’s also a good idea to maintain a family schedule for things such as sleeping and eating. Trouble can brew if some people are making noise while others are trying to sleep. “I think everybody should be reasonably expected to get up roughly at the same time, give or take a half-hour or maybe even an hour, but at least we’re all on our circadian rhythms here,” Krantz said. Eating together at least once… read on >

Though most Americans are well aware that protecting themselves from sunburn is important, many don’t take precautions, a new survey finds. Protecting yourself from exposure to sunlight is the best way of preventing skin cancer, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The results of the AAD survey show that 76% of Americans know the importance of sun protection, but only 41% regularly protect themselves outdoors. Exposure to harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays is the most preventable risk factor for skin cancer, but 28% of survey respondents said they rarely or never use sun protection and 65% don’t know that shade protects them from UV rays. “It is estimated that more than 9,500 people are diagnosed with skin cancer every day, and nearly 20 Americans die every day from melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer,” said Dr. Bruce Thiers, the president of the AAD. “Skin cancer affects more Americans than any other cancer, yet most cases are preventable by seeking shade, wearing sun-protective clothing and applying sunscreen on all skin not covered by clothing,” he added in an AAD news release. The AAD recommends that everyone: Seek shade when the sun’s rays are the strongest, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wear sun-protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts, pants, a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. Use a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with a sun-protection factor (SPF)… read on >

The severity of COVID-19 illness may be influenced by what researchers call “cytokine storms.” In a new study, investigators assessed 522 COVID-19 patients, aged 5 days to 97 years, who were admitted to two hospitals in Wuhan, China, in December and January. The study also included a “control group” of 40 healthy people. Compared to the control group, 76% of COVID-19 patients had significantly lower levels of T cells — a type of white blood cell that plays a crucial role in immune response against viral infections. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit had much lower T cell counts than those who didn’t require ICU care. Patients over age 60 had the lowest T cell counts, the findings showed. And the T cells that did survive in COVID-19 patients were exhausted and unable to function at full capacity, the study authors said. COVID-19 patients also had high levels of cytokines — a protein that normally helps fight off infection. Too many cytokines can prompt an excessive inflammatory response called a “cytokine storm,” which causes the proteins to attack healthy cells. That suggests the new coronavirus does not attack T cells directly. Instead, it triggers the cytokine release, which results in the loss and exhaustion of T cells, according to the authors of the study published May 1 in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. The… read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Layoffs and Losses: COVID-19 Leaves U.S. Hospitals in Financial Crisis

Coronavirus Task Force to Wind Down as U.S. Cases Climb Past 1.2 Million

Injuries a Drain on Employee Productivity

New Predictions Show Daily Coronavirus Death Toll Nearly Doubling By June 1

Running Without Risk During the Pandemic

Cuddling Brings Two Minds Together, MRI Study Reveals

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Could Now Top 100,000, Trump Says

Keeping Harmony in the Family During Coronavirus Pandemic

Shun the Sun to Prevent Skin Cancer

Blood Count May Offer Clues to Treatment of COVID-19: Study