As the total number of coronavirus infections reported by the United States approaches the staggering 3.5 million, the federal government changing the way that COVID-19 hospital data--information like number of patients being treated, number of available beds and ventilators--is being recorded. On Tuesday, the White House ordered hospitals to report all COVID-19 information directly to the Department of Health and Human Services (H.H.S.), thus bypassing and potentially sidelining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.). This move was alarming to health experts and researchers, who use the publicly shared data for scientific purposes, with many fearing that the data will be kept from the public or politicized.
According to new instructions from the H.H.S.'s website, hospitals will be required to send all COVID-19 patient information to a central database, named H.H.S. Protect, starting on Wednesday, with the information not open for public use. H.H.S. Chief Information Officer Jose Arrietta stated on Wednesday that the new database will send all valuable health information to the C.D.C., which will continue to analyze and issue reports accordingly. Arriesta added that the agency is "exploring the best way" to make the information available to members of both the press and general public, according to The New York Times.
C.D.C. Director Robert Redfield told reporters on Wednesday, reported by The New York Times that the agency is also looking for ways to make COVID-19 data more useful to the general public, with the agency exploring "externally facing" avenues that will help Americans analyze "the current extent of the pandemic in different counties and in different zip codes," to help citizens better understand their area's outbreak.
Total Global Cases: Over 13.66 Million
Total Deaths: Over 585,000
Total Recovered: Over 8 Million
New Policy
Shoppers throughout the United States can expect some new changes to their in-store retail experience in the coming weeks: mandatory masks.
The world's largest consumer goods retailer Walmart Inc.
Walmart stated that about 65% of its affiliated locations are in areas that already have some form of government mask mandate. Starting on July 20, all customers will need to wear a facial covering to bring constancy across all the company's stores. In addition, Walmart has created the role of Health Ambassador to monitor the entrance of the store to make sure all customers comply with the decision. The company stated that its Health Ambassadors are ready to assist anyone with a medical exemption to facial coverings with their shopping needs.
Kroger
While many health experts have been recommending widespread mask adoption, many companies and local governments have been hesitant to fully require public facial coverings. Face masks have become a political issue in the United States due in part to misinformation.
Walmart and Kroger join Best Buy
