How a piecemeal Covid-19 response in one prison fueled a fatal outbreak

With at least 767 cases, the Covid-19 outbreak at the California Institution of Men is among the largest across the state's 35 correctional facilities. In a new story, STAT contributor Eileen Guo spoke with inmates about how the prison's slow and piecemeal response — which stuck to standard operating procedures like crowding inmates into communal spaces — has fueled the spread of the virus. “Do prisoners still have a federally protected right to safe and humane conditions?” 56-year-old inmate Anthony Barker asked in a letter he wrote to the California Correctional Health Care Services, a copy of which he shared with STAT. Read more here.

Here's what else is new with the pandemic:

Surgeons at Northwestern University in Chicago performed the first known lung transplant for a patient with Covid-19. The patient, a Hispanic woman in her 20s, had been in intensive care for her coronavirus infection and on a ventilator and life support machine to help supplement function of her heart and lungs for six weeks before her medical team decided to perform a double-lung transplant.
A review of nearly 1,400 scientific papers published on the novel coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic has found that only 1 in 3 authors of these papers is female. And when the scientists behind the review adjusted for seniority, fewer than 30% of authors were female. "The disproportionate contribution of women to Covid-19 research reflects a broader gender bias in science that should be addressed for the benefit of men and women alike," the authors write.
In a new First Opinion, scientist Bonnielin Swenor, who is visually impaired, writes about how those with disabilities may be less likely to get tested for Covid-19 given barriers to care. But such barriers for the more than 61 million Americans living with a disability also mean that "data from this group are less likely to be included in surveillance estimates," which could impede response efforts.
A new analysis reveals that the mandate requiring masks in public alone was associated with 78,000 fewer infections in Italy between early April and early May. In New York City, a face covering mandate was associated with 66,000 fewer Covid-19 infections between April 17 and May 9. The authors of the analysis conclude that this inexpensive measure "corresponds to the most effective means to prevent interhuman transmission" of Covid-19.