Covid-19: Can health tech come to the rescue?

The Trump administration has taken actions — such as lifting restrictions on telehealth services for seniors covered by Medicare — that show government officials are counting on health tech, and especially telemedicine, to save the country from the coronavirus pandemic. But can the technology meet the demands of this extraordinary moment? Right now telehealth services are sagging under the weight of an unprecedented surge in patients as hospitals scramble to shift routine care online in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

More of the latest developments:

That makes 50: On Tuesday West Virginia became the last state to confirm its first Covid-19 case.
The Pentagon will provide civilian health authorities with 5 million respirator masks and 2,000 specialized ventilators to help them respond to the pandemic.
The Bay Area's near-lockdown, which aims to slow the spread of the coronavirus, is ushering in a new reality for biopharma companies and biomedical labs.
A Texas-based health care system announced it would convert one of its hospitals in Boston into a treatment center for patients with Covid-19.
Regeneron said it has developed hundreds of potential Covid-19 drugs and that it may enter clinical trials by early summer.
In response to a dire shortage of tests for detecting the fast-moving coronavirus, the FDA is giving states new powers to authorize laboratories to develop their own diagnostic.
Stanford’s John P.A. Ioannidis asks if the coronavirus response is a fiasco in the making. Because, he writes in a First Opinion for STAT, we are making decisions without reliable data.