August 11, 2020
New Interactive
Database by KFF's Kaiser Health News and Guardian US Reveals More Than 900
Health Care Workers Have Died in the Fight Against COVID-19 in the U.S.
Many Were
Unable to Access Adequate Personal Protective Equipment, and People of Color
Account for a Disproportionate Share of Deaths Among Those Profiled So Far
A
new interactive database from KFF’s Kaiser Health News
(KHN) and Guardian US reveals that many of the more than 900 U.S. health care
workers who have died in the fight against COVID-19 worked in facilities with
shortages of protective equipment such as gowns, masks, gloves and face
shields. People of color and nurses account for a disproportionate share of deaths
among those profiled so far.
The
two news organizations have identified 922 workers who likely died of
COVID-19 after helping patients during the pandemic, and have published
profiles of 167 workers whose deaths have been confirmed as part of the “Lost
on the Frontline” reporting project, which began this spring. The project
aims to document the life of every health care worker who falls victim to the
virus and shine a light on the workings — and failings — of the U.S. health
care system during a global pandemic.
The
interactive tool — the nation’s most comprehensive independent database of
health care workers who have lost their lives — can be searched by factors
such as race and ethnicity, age, occupation, location and whether the workers
had adequate access to protective gear. The database is freely available to
help local news organizations profile workers in their communities who have
lost their lives fighting the pandemic. The profiles include medical
professionals like doctors, nurses and paramedics, and others working at
hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities, including aides,
administrative employees, and cleaning and maintenance staff.
Key
themes have emerged from the lives and deaths of the 167 workers whose
profiles are in the database so far, including:
- At least 52
(31%) had inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
- At least 103
(62%) were identified as people of color.
- Sixty-four (38%)
were nurses, the largest single group, but the total also includes
physicians, pharmacists, first responders and hospital technicians,
among others.
- Ages ranged from
20 to 80, with 21 people (13%) under 40, including eight (5%) under 30.
Seventy-seven people — or 46% — were 60 or older.
- At least 53
workers (32%) were born outside the U.S., including 25 (15%) from the
Philippines.
Exclusive
stories by the project reporters have revealed that many health care workers
are using surgical masks that are far less effective and have put them in jeopardy. Emails
obtained via a public records request showed that federal and state officials
were aware in late February of dire shortages of PPE. Medical workers began to resort to parking-lot deals and DIY projects to get
protective gear themselves.
Last
month, KHN reported that health workers who contracted the coronavirus and
their families are now struggling to access death benefits and workers’
compensation. The Guardian today examines health care workers under age 30 who
died from COVID-19.
Information
about health care workers is crowdsourced from family, friends and colleagues
of fallen health care workers, as well as reported through traditional means.
The project is an independent and comprehensive source of information about
these workers, the importance of which is underscored by the recent Trump
administration decision to divert hospitals’ data about COVID-19 cases away
from the Centers for Disease Control to the federal Department of Health and
Human Services.
KHN
and the Guardian are calling for family members, friends and colleagues of
health workers to share information, photos and stories about their loved
ones and co-workers who died on the front lines via this form.
KHN
and the Guardian invite news organizations across the country to partner in
the effort. All content from the series is available free to other news
organizations to republish.
About KFF
and KHN
Filling
the need for trusted information on national health issues, KFF (Kaiser
Family Foundation) is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco. KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service
covering health issues. KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF and,
along with Policy Analysis and Polling, is one of the three major operating
programs of KFF. KFF is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
About
Guardian News & Media
Guardian US is renowned for its Pulitzer Prize-winning
investigation into widespread secret surveillance by the National Security
Agency, and for other award-winning work, including The Paradise Papers.
Guardian US has bureaus in New York, Washington, New Orleans and Oakland,
California, covering the climate crisis, politics, race and immigration,
gender, national security and more.
Guardian
News & Media (GNM), publisher of theguardian.com, is one of the largest English-speaking
newspaper websites in the world. Since launching its U.S. and Australian
digital editions in 2011 and 2013, respectively, traffic from outside of the
U.K. now represents over two-thirds of The Guardian’s total digital audience.
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