Iowa news
Nursing home worker who refused to wear a mask is denied jobless benefits
An Iowa nursing home worker who quit her job rather than wear a face mask intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 is not entitled to jobless benefits, a judge has ruled. According to state records, Stephanie Lindsey, a full-time cook for the Luther Manor Communities nursing home in Dubuque, quit her job in May. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Luther Manor has required its employees to wear personal protective equipment at work since March 2020. (Des Moines Register)
Nursing home outbreaks down sharply in Iowa
The number of COVID-19 outbreaks in Iowa nursing homes has declined dramatically in the past two weeks, from 27 to 17. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, there were 27 outbreaks in Iowa nursing homes on Nov. 23, and 19 outbreaks on Dec. 1. As of last week, there were 17 outbreaks in Iowa care facilities. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Here are 4 things to know about the current surge of COVID-19 in Iowa
COVID-19 hasn’t left Iowa since it arrived in March 2020, but rarely has it swept through the state as severely as it is now. A record number of people this year are hospitalized in Iowa with COVID-19. Most of them are unvaccinated. And for weeks, doctors have been warning of the toll the 18-month-and-counting pandemic has taken on a staff already taxed by burnout and an influx of other illnesses maladies. (Des Moines Register)
National news
9 Minnesota hospital CEOs run ad sounding alarm over COVID-19 surge
Nine leaders from separate Minnesota health systems released a joint statement Dec. 12, warning that their hospital operations are strained and many team members “demoralized,” while urging the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The letter ran in newspaper ads statewide and was signed by executives at Minneapolis-based Allina Health, Minneapolis-based Children’s Minnesota, Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services, Bloomington-based HealthPartners, Minneapolis-based Hennepin Healthcare, Robbindale-based North Memorial Health, Duluth-based Essentia Health, St. Cloud-based CentraCare and Rochester-based Mayo Clinic. (Becker’s Hospital Review)
Coronavirus has killed 1 in 100 American 65 or older
Seventy-five percent of people who have died of the coronavirus in the United States — or about 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 who have perished so far — have been 65 or older. One in 100 older Americans has died from the virus. For people younger than 65, that ratio is closer to 1 in 1,400. (New York Times)
16 health care organizations suspending COVID-19 vaccination mandates
Hospitals and health systems are suspending COVID-19 vaccination mandates amid a temporary halt of the CMS mandate for health care workers. A federal judge in Missouri on Nov. 29 temporarily blocked CMS from enforcing its mandate in 10 states pending the outcome of litigation. The next day, federal judges in Kentucky and Louisiana expanded that order nationwide. With litigation pending over mandatory vaccinations, 16 health care organizations suspended their mandates. (Becker’s Hospital Review)