Editor's Note In this study from Switzerland, regular use of public transportation by healthcare workers (HCWs) was not found to affect the risk for acquiring COVID-19. Of 376 HCWs analyzed, 225 used public transportation. By group comparison, HCWs using public transportation did not acquire a significantly greater percentage of COVID-19…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on February 18 identified the recall by E25Bio (Cambridge, Massachusetts) of its COVID-19 Direct Antigen Rapid Tests as Class I, the most serious. The tests are being recalled for several reasons, particularly because they were marketed and distributed in the US without…

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Editor's Note A USA Today/Ipsos Poll that was released on February 22 and was conducted between February 9 and February 16 found that almost 1 in 4 healthcare workers (HCWs) report they are likely to leave the healthcare field in the near future, Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The poll surveyed…

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Editor's Note A new report published by KFF-Epic Research found that telehealth still represents a substantial share of healthcare delivery despite its use having decreased somewhat from the high seen at the start of the pandemic, the February 16 Healthcare Purchasing News reports. The research presents data from more than…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs St Louis Health Care System finds that those who have had COVID-19 were 60% more likely to experience mental health problems for up to a year. The analysis involved 153,848 patients who survived the…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), on February 16, awarded New York City’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai a 3-year, $2.1 million grant to develop a new training initiative to help healthcare workers (HCWs) deal with the mental health…

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Editor's Note According to the February 16 Becker’s Hospital Review, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xiaver Becerra said the Biden administration is estimating it will need some $30 billion to continue to fight against COVID-19. Another HHS representative told Politico the funding is needed "for additional resources to support…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, finds that small respiratory particles can remain moist and airborne for a longer time and greater distance than scientists have recognized. The researchers found that mucus shells surrounding respiratory droplets--emitted from the…

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Editor's Note In an analysis published on February 12 by the New England Journal of Medicine, findings indicate that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, incidents of healthcare-associated infections and other patient safety complications have been on the rise, Becker’s Hospital Review reports. According to the analysis authors, there…

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Each year, there are more studies raising concerns about infections associated with endoscopic procedures and the techniques used to clean and sterilize or high-level disinfect (HLD) endoscopic devices. In this article, in partnership with Boston Scientific, epidemiologist Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, president and CEO of Ofstead & Associates, St Paul,…

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