U.S. leaders have "failed miserably" in planning and executing a cohesive national response to COVID-19, which has killed over 170,000 people here, according to a new report. The report is Public Health Law Watch's Assessing Legal Responses to COVID-19. It features 50 top national experts evaluating the policy response to the pandemic. The experts blame neither resources nor individual courage, but rather "a failure of leadership and the implementation of an effective response." COVID-19 revealed weaknesses in the nation’s health care and public health systems. It also worsened existing health inequities for Latinos and other people of color—even creating new disparities. Still, the report offers 100+ recommendations on how federal, state, and local leaders can better ...
Latino farmworkers living in rural communities are experiencing some of the most devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic. These laborers are experiencing high rates of COVID-19 infections. Their access to medical care, which was limited even before the virus, has only worsened during the pandemic. On top of everything else, farmworkers are also having to battle against poor workplace treatment, according to Rosalinda Guillen, the Executive Director of Community to Community Development. "There's just a myriad of indignities that the workers suffered at those packing sheds that we're hearing from other workers in other areas where the same thing is happening over and over and over again," Guillen said. "It is about the disease. It is about workers feeling that finally it ...
Thank you to the 38,367 people—including over 800 Salud America! members—who submitted public comments for better nutrition and limited added sugars for the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans! These comments are the latest step in shaping the guidelines. USDA and HHS update the guidelines every five years. They are the leading set of nutrition standards for people, health professionals, and federal food programs. Submitted between mid-July and mid-August 2020, the new comments arrive after an initial 55,000 public comments between winter 2019 and spring 2020. A federal committee then released a scientific report to inform the guidelines. Recommendations include no sugary drinks for children up to age 2 and less alcohol intake for men. Now we await the release the ...
Smoking kills — it also harms those who work near, live with, or are close to a smoker. Newfound data shows that researchers are beginning to link secondhand smoke exposure and worsened COVID-19 outcomes. As the pandemic continues to spread throughout the US, health advocates are calling for more significant restrictions on smoke exposure. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, to tweet about secondhand smoke exposure, it’s harmful impacts, and how it can influence someone’s experience with COVID-19! WHAT: #SaludTues: Secondhand Smoke and COVID-19
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST (Noon-1 p.m. CST), Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: @ANR_Smokefree
PARTICIPANTS:
@tobaccofreefla
...
When COVID-19 struck, it impacted Latinos more than others. That is why Salud America!, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded national program at UT Health San Antonio, immediately applied its digital content curation model to create equitable, culturally relevant information and action opportunities to address pandemic effects on Latinos. The result? Record spikes in program website traffic and confirmation of the curation model's capacity to increase people's exposure to culturally relevant and action-oriented information for a novel topic like COVID-19, according to a new study published in the journal Health Promotion Practice. "We have shown that digital content curation is an effective, measurable public health promotion tool to disseminate awareness-raising and ...
Too many social support tasks fall to armed police officers. As local leaders discuss COVID-19 recovery plans, they need to consider how to address these social support issues in tandem with economic issues. Many cities are exploring how to reform or reimagine police. This often includes partnering with community-based social, behavioral, and mental health services. However, community partners may lack capacity for city-wide change. That’s why cities need to build a community-based workforce to coordinate community development, help families recover from the pandemic’s economic fallout, and reform police, simultaneously.
Expensive Spending on Traditional Policing
Public safety is a major city expense. Of the 50 largest cities, spending on police accounts for the ...
We already know that smoking cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products result in worse coronavirus outcomes. What could be worse? Teenagers and young adults who vape face a much higher risk of COVID-19 than their peers who do not, according to new research from Stanford University. In fact, that data—collected from a May 2020 national survey of 13 to 24-year-olds—showed that vapers are five times more likely to get COVID-19. The risk is seven times higher for dual—smoking and vaping—users. "Young people may believe their age protects them from contracting the virus or that they will not experience symptoms of COVID-19, but the data show this isn't true among those who vape," Dr. Shivani Mathur Gaiha, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral scholar, said in a ...
The coronavirus pandemic is worsening minority health and the nation’s sizable affordable housing shortage. When we think of health assets, many of us think about healthcare, education, and safe transportation to access healthy food and physical activity. But affordable housing is an essential component of public health infrastructure, and important factor in an equitable pandemic response. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, to tweet about the latest research about the critical role of affordable housing in the COVID-19 response! WHAT: #SaludTues: The Critical Role of Affordable Housing in the COVID-19 Response
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST (Noon-1 p.m. CST), Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: ...
Amid the surging COVID-19 pandemic and one of the hottest summers in world history, public parks are a refuge. But not all parks are created equitably. Parks that serve primarily Latinos and others of color are half the size of parks that serve majority White populations. They are also five times more crowded, with hotter temperatures, according to a new study from The Trust for Public Land. "As cities struggle with extreme heat this summer, parks are one of the best ways for residents to find relief," said Diane Regas, leader of The Trust for Public Land. "We all need and deserve parks—and all of the benefits they provide—all of the time. But during this period of compounded public health emergencies, unequal access to quality parks can be downright dangerous."
What Did the ...
