Staffing This new Rapid Expert Consultation document from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine focuses on health care staffing for COVID-19 and provides guidance for decision-making in situations where staffing is not optimal and additional qualified, expert personnel
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The Looming Eviction Crisis A federal eviction moratorium is ending, putting 12 million renters nationwide at risk of eviction. Indiana’s moratorium is scheduled to end on July 31, and the Indiana Housing Now program, which drew upon CARES Act dollars
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Policies, Guidance, Reports, and Expert Perspectives HHS Civil Rights guidance: Racial and Ethnic Discrimination in Covid-19 treatments will threaten Federal funding – On Monday, July 20, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights issued guidance warning
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Testing Supplies and Capacity This N.Y. Times article details continuing challenges regarding availability and processing of coronavirus testing kits in Arizona, which has experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases. Drive-up testing sites have 3-mile lines, labs have twice as many
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HEALTH CARE WORKERS This article focuses on the continued problem of nursing home staffing as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the pandemic, nursing home shortages of direct-care staff were common and persistent. The fact that nursing home residents
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DRUGS This op-ed by Crutchfield, Gibb, and Redinger tackles issues of distributing remdesivir, an antiviral drug that shows promise in reducing COVID-19 recovery time. Using Michigan as an example, the authors argue that fair allocation of the drug requires prioritizing
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Legal Authority of State Stay-at-Home Orders – Hall, Mello, Studdert – this New England Journal of Medicine article discusses two recent state Supreme Court cases (one from Wisconsin and one from Michigan) as a way to examine how legal challenges
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Two significant court cases were released last week. Supreme Court says religious services may be restricted without violating First Amendment: I discuss the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision not to disturb California’s Executive Order restricting the size of live religious gatherings
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TESTING: Tennessee is taking a bold approach to testing for COVID-19, making testing available to any person who wants it, even without symptoms or specific exposure risks. Test shortages have led most states to limit availability, but Tennessee’s approach has
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Below is a roundup of some recent developments with law and ethics themes related to the enforcement of public health authority during the pandemic, vulnerable populations, and states reopening. The Americans with Disabilities Act & HIPAA do not bar businesses
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