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on October 28, 2020
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Do Masks Work?

Written by John Hinderaker
in Health Care

With regard to COVID, we are awash in unreliable or even intentionally misleading empirical claims. A neurosurgeon from D.C. who understands statistics analyzes a popular claim that is being made on behalf of mask mandates. I encountered a Washington Post figure making its way through social media, suggesting that not wearing masks is conclusively the reason for COVID spread: If you look at the figure closely, the y-axis is "% who know someone with COVID-19." Why on earth would any reasonable scientist or public health official use this "survey" variable to honestly study a scientific/public health effect? The reason is, it is...

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on October 23, 2020
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A post-Covid-19 agenda for Minnesota’s state government: Healthcare

Written by John Phelan
in Health Care

For now at least, the emergency period of the Covid-19 pandemic in Minnesota is over. What did this traumatic experience show ought to be done in response to or in preparation for a possible repeat? The Cato Institute offers some suggestions in a new collection of essays titled Pandemics and Policy. In Reform Regulation of Health Care Providers, Jeffrey A. Singer argues that state governments should: enact laws granting reciprocal recognition to licenses held by health care practitioners already licensed in any of the 50 states or the District of Columbia; grant reciprocal health care licenses to more international medical school graduates...

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on October 19, 2020
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Yale researchers found that childcare programs are not a big contributor to the spread of Covid-19

Written by Martha Njolomole
in Health Care

According to a study conducted by Yale Researcher, childcare programs that stayed open have not been a major contributor to the spread of Covid-19. This is the first large-scale study specifically targeting childcare programs, and it, therefore, presents valuable insights especially to parents and childcare providers....

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on October 13, 2020
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Telehealth could improve healthcare access in Rural Minnesota post-COVID

Written by Martha Njolomole
in Health Care

Before the pandemic, health care access was tough in rural areas. And the pandemic has made that worse. However, the pandemic also accelerated the adoption of telehealth which could potentially serve as a solution to healthcare access issues that plague rural areas. All it requires is that the Minnesota legislature enacts policies that will help create a telehealth-friendly regulatory environment going forward....

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on September 24, 2020
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Data shows ban on elective services disrupted routine health care for kids

Written by Martha Njolomole
in Health Care

New data shows that during the strictest period of the lockdown (March to May), vaccinations and screenings for childhood diseases, as well as other visits dropped tremendously. This spells significant negative consequences, like potential outbreaks of preventable diseases, which will likely linger for the foreseeable future. ...

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on August 24, 2020
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Minnesota’s Covid-19 strategy has gone from ‘Two weeks to flatten the curve’ to ‘Indefinitely to eliminate the virus completely’

Written by John Phelan
in Health Care

“Buckle it up for a few more weeks,” Gov. Walz said, nearly 22 weeks ago. But somewhere along the line we went from 'Two weeks to flatten the curve' to 'Indefinitely to eliminate the virus completely', and it happened without anybody telling us....

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