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Surgeons report on rural preparedness response plan for dealing with COVID-19

Major metropolitan areas such as New York, Seattle, and Detroit have dominated news of the COVID-19 outbreak, but rural hospitals and health care systems must also prepare for a surge of coronavirus patients.

12 Apr 2020

UCSF surgeons formulate operation-triage plan for handling COVID-19 outbreak

Within a month of the University of California San Francisco Health treating its first patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Feb. 3, UCSF surgeons began formulating a plan to respond to the pandemic and help manage the health care system's available resources.

11 Apr 2020

To ‘keep the lights on,’ doctors and hospitals ask for advance Medicare payments

Darrin Menard, a family physician in Lafayette, Louisiana, has spent the past month easing patients' anxieties about the coronavirus that has killed 10 people in his parish so far.

10 Apr 2020

A Colorado ski community planned to test everyone for COVID-19. Here’s what happened.

In late March, residents of the Colorado town of Telluride and surrounding San Miguel County stood in line, along marked spots spaced 6 feet apart, to have their blood drawn by medical technicians wearing Tyvek suits, face shields and gloves for a new COVID-19 test.

10 Apr 2020

Low-cost anti-coronavirus face shield made using clear plastic file

When dealing with coronavirus disease, it is essential for healthcare personnel to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

10 Apr 2020

Recommendations for keeping cancer patients, providers safe during COVID-19 pandemic

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network--an alliance of leading cancer centers--is continuing to share new resources for optimal cancer management amid new and changing challenges related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019.

10 Apr 2020

‘Baby, I can’t breathe’: America’s first ER doctor to die in heat of COVID-19 battle

At about 5 a.m. on March 19, a New York City ER physician named Frank Gabrin texted a friend about his concerns over the lack of medical supplies at hospitals.

9 Apr 2020

‘When it starts getting into your local hospital, it becomes real’

The folding chairs outside the windows appeared late last month, after the maintenance staff at St. James Parish Hospital labeled each window with a patient room number so families and friends could at least see their loved ones battling COVID-19.

8 Apr 2020

Protecting elderly people in long-term care facilities during COVID-19 pandemic

A new report calls for measures to protect elderly people in long-term care facilities and their caregivers who are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

7 Apr 2020

Cancer patients face treatment delays and uncertainty as coronavirus cripples hospitals

The federal government has encouraged health centers to delay nonessential surgeries while weighing the severity of patients' conditions and the availability of personal protective equipment, beds and staffing at hospitals.

7 Apr 2020

Researchers create algorithm to protect surgical team members from COVID-19

Researchers from Stanford University's department of surgery have created an algorithm that aims to protect operating room team members who perform urgent and emergency operations from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and rationally conserve the personal protective equipment they wear.

6 Apr 2020

McMaster: Common medical masks are good for most COVID-19 treatment

The N95 respirator masks should be preserved for health-care workers involved in inserting breathing tubes for patients with COVID-19. More common medical masks are fine for all other COVID-19 treatment, says preliminary research from McMaster University.

6 Apr 2020

UC San Diego Health expands COVID-19 testing capacity

From the beginning, the ability of front line clinicians to test patients for COVID-19 -- to determine whether a person is infected with the disease-causing novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 -- has been part and parcel of the pandemic.

6 Apr 2020

Mysterious heart damage, not just lung troubles, befalling COVID-19 patients

While the focus of the COVID-19 pandemic has been on respiratory problems and securing enough ventilators, doctors on the front lines are grappling with a new medical mystery.

6 Apr 2020

New design will allow manufacturers to mass-produce PPE for health care workers

In just under two weeks, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with engineers, nurses and other health care professionals, have developed a design informed by clinical feedback for protective plastic face shields as the nation combats the spread of the coronavirus.

5 Apr 2020

Wearing surgical masks in public may help limit the spread of COVID-19

Surgical masks may help prevent infected people from making others sick with seasonal viruses, including coronaviruses, according to new research that could help settle a fierce debate spanning clinical and cultural norms.

5 Apr 2020

Trump administration uses wartime powers to be first in line on medical supplies

The Trump administration quietly invoked the Defense Production Act to force medical suppliers in Texas and Colorado to sell to it first — ahead of states, hospitals or foreign countries.

3 Apr 2020

I-Form uses 3D printing to provide PPE for health professionals fighting COVID-19

I-Form, the SFI Research Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (www.i-form.ie), is using its expertise in additive manufacturing (3D printing) to provide much-needed PPE (personal protective equipment) to frontline staff working across the health service in Dublin.

3 Apr 2020

Loss of smell hints at coronavirus infection

The most common signs and symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) include fever, dry cough, and difficulty of breathing. But patients who were infected recall another bizarre symptom tied to the coronavirus infection – loss of smell.

2 Apr 2020

Lessons learned from the Italian COVID‐19 outbreak

As Italy grapples with the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a new study has shed light on the country’s fight against the deadly disease. Italy is one of the hardest-hit countries of the global health crisis, infecting more than 115,000 people and killing nearly 14,000.

2 Apr 2020