Public Health & Covid-19

The 5 phases of COVID’s endgame

Anthony Fauci and other public health experts give us their roadmap for the rest of the pandemic.

How Public Health Took Part in Its Own Downfall

The field’s future lies in reclaiming parts of its past that it willingly abandoned.

The U.S. Approach to Public Health: Neglect, Panic, Repeat

Time to give new life to an old idea: A strong public health system is the best guarantor of good health.

To live with Covid, we will still need vital public health measures

Wearing masks and providing clean air inside buildings are important public health measures. As Hanage points out, the scourge of epidemic cholera and typhoid was not removed by giving individuals personal responsibility for protecting themselves against enteric fevers, but through clean water and effective sewerage.

America has no real public health system – coronavirus has a clear run

Instead of a public health system, we have a private for-profit system for individuals lucky enough to afford it and a rickety social insurance system for people fortunate enough to have a full-time job. At their best, both systems respond to the needs of individuals rather than the needs of the public as a whole. In America, the word “public” – as in public health, public education or public welfare – means a sum total of individual needs, not the common good.

Coronavirus is exposing all of the weaknesses in the US health system

The international response to the novel coronavirus has laid this bare: America was less prepared for a pandemic than countries with universal health systems.

Covid and Diabetes, Colliding in a Public Health Train Wreck

After older people and nursing home residents, no group perhaps has been harder hit by the pandemic than people with diabetes. Experts hope policymakers will take notice, and finally get serious about tackling the nation’s diabetes crisis.

Covid-19’s Lasting Effects on Health Care

Six experts weigh in on how the pandemic will change hospitals, mental health, drug development and more

How Covid-19 Has Made America's Health Care System Better

Covid has done many things to our society and culture — and some of them are good, such as making us look carefully and thoughtfully at our nation's health care systems. For example, because the influx of Covid patients made hospital beds scarce, home health care became a much more viable option.

How covid-19 unleashed the NHS

The pandemic has put the nhs under unbearable strain, but it has also unleashed a wave of innovation. Freed from bureaucracy, and pressed by the need to keep patients out of hospital, medics and health officials have rethought how care is provided.

How Health Care In The U.S. May Change After COVID: An Optimist's Outlook

COVID-19 demonstrated that even in a behemoth industry like health care, change can come quickly when it's necessary. Patients understandably avoided hospitals and clinics because of the risk of viral exposure — leading to quick opportunities for innovation.

The Coronavirus Truthers Don't Believe in Public Health

Social-distancing protesters, “medical freedom” advocates, and anti-vaccine activists all rely on deeply flawed ideas about how public health measures work—and how safe they are themselves.

The COVID-19 Pandemic as an Opportunity to Ensure a More Successful Future for Science and Public Health

Despite enormous scientific and technological accomplishments, such as the rapid development and testing of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, the response to the pandemic has unveiled vulnerabilities in society and in the scientific independence of public health institutions.

The Noble Lies of COVID-19

Do we want public health officials to report facts and uncertainties transparently? Or do we want them to shape information to influence the public to take specific actions?

Why Public Health Faces a Crisis Across the U.S.

An examination of hundreds of health departments around the country shows that the nation may be less prepared for the next pandemic than it was for the current one.

‘Is it worth it?’: New report lays bare harassment of public health officials during the pandemic

There’s a mountain of evidence showing the devastating toll of the pandemic on health workers. Now, new research lays bare the brutal impact on their counterparts in public health.

Tomorrow’s COVID safety guidelines will be different from today’s—but that doesn’t mean yesterday’s were wrong

The continued evolution of the coronavirus and resultant public policy changes don’t look like a normal public health crisis. It’s happening like a hurricane.

We’re Expecting the Wrong Things From the CDC

If you want the CDC to be apolitical, you’re missing the point of public health.