truthout--2020-05-04--Small Devices Can Detect Oxygen Deprivation Earlier From COVID-19

We speak with Dr. Richard Levitan , an emergency physician based in Littleton , New Hampshire , who volunteered at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for 10 days at the height of the COVID-19 surge in April .
Based on what he saw , he argues patients should be going to hospitals sooner and that medical professionals could use a small device you clip on your fingertip , called a pulse oximeter , to help detect the virus earlier by revealing oxygenation problems and elevated heart rates .
“ A pulse oximeter is just a measure of identifying how well the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe , can be basically an early warning system in terms of patients to know who has COVID pneumonia , ” says Dr. Levitan .
This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We turn now to our last segment .
This is Democracy Now !
The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , as we look at the effort to save more lives as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the United States and around the world .
Even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reopening , he predicted Sunday the U.S. death toll from the pandemic could reach 100,000 — a number far higher than his earlier estimate a week or two ago of 60,000 .
We ’ re joined now by Dr. Richard Levitan , an emergency physician who ’ s usually based in Littleton , New Hampshire , but he came down to New York to volunteer at one of the public hospitals , at Bellevue Hospital , where my dad used to work , in Manhattan , for 10 days at the height of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was shocked by what he saw .
He wrote about what he learned in The New York Times op-ed headlined “ The Infection That ’ s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients.
” In it , he writes , “ I realized that we are not detecting the deadly pneumonia the virus causes early enough and that we could be doing more to keep patients off ventilators — and alive.
” Dr. Levitan , if you could tell us how exactly you do that ?
Welcome .
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN : Thank you for having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in medicine , we have used a fifth vital sign .
So , the standard vital signs of heart rate , blood pressure , temperature , respiratory rate , we ’ ve added a fifth vital sign .
That fifth vital sign is pulse oximetry .
And what it does is it measures the saturation of oxygen in the blood .
And what I noticed while working in New York is these patients came in with alarmingly low oxygen saturations , but they did not , subjectively , actually feel short of breath @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this oximeter .
Explain exactly what it is .
And interestingly , the inventor of the oximeter , Takuo Aoyagi — an ingenious and indispensable medical device , as many are describing it — just died , and his death was just announced .
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN : Yeah .
So , if you ’ ve interacted with the healthcare system at all in the last 30 years , you ’ ve had a small probe placed on your finger .
In the hospital , those probes connect up to our monitors .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this .
And these devices are very inexpensive , and they are widely available .
They are present or ready on every ambulance , in every hospital , in every doctor ’ s office , actually in every nursing home .
They exist widely .
And this device gives you two numbers .
It gives you a heart rate , and it gives you an oxygen saturation .
And so , what is remarkable about this is that the cause of death in COVID , overwhelmingly , is pneumonia .
Pneumonia triggers hospitalization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and then all these problems ensue after the lungs get severely injured .
And a pulse oximeter is just a measure of identifying how well the lungs are working , and , I believe , can be basically an early warning system in terms of patients to know who has COVID pneumonia .
AMY GOODMAN : So , describe what doctors all over the country , and nurses , are seeing in hospitals , something that they really haven ’ t seen before , where someone will be on their cellphone , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctors and nurses , and then suddenly crash .
Explain that .
And then talk also about your concern about people being put on ventilators .
What ?
At this point , something like 85 % of people who have been put on ventilators die ?
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN : So , the rate of death on ventilators varies dramatically .
And unfortunately , the public has the perception that everybody who gets put on a ventilator dies .
It really depends how sick you are on presentation .
If you are elderly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you know , your mortality , being put on a ventilator , is high .
But among young people , actually , the death rate on ventilators is much lower .
So , I don ’ t want the public to be scared that if their loved one winds up on a ventilator , that that necessarily means a death sentence .
But it is a bad thing when people get COVID pneumonia and they present late .
In terms of their presentation , we see all the time in emergency medicine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drown , anything that affects oxygen going to the brain , when that happens quickly , patients pass out , or they have seizures .
The remarkable thing about these patients are they come in with oximetry readings , pulse oximetry readings , oxygen saturation readings , half-normal , as low as 50 % .
And we normally have an oxygen saturation between 94 and 100 .
But so , these people are there with these incredibly low readings , and their brain is working fine , and they ’ re on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as an adaptation to this low oxygen caused by the pneumonia , is they have silently kind of increased their breathing rate over days .
And they only come in when they get either short of breath or a fever , but that happens late in the process .
Subjective shortness of breath is not something that the patients appreciate , because this disease basically silently advances until they get seriously ill. AMY GOODMAN : And so , you ’ re saying , when people are told , “ Do not go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that shortness of breath .
Just stay at home , ” can be a real problem , that people are holding off to the end , when it could be too late ?
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN : Well , looking back on my own experience with COVID before I went to New York , and I was evaluating patients in the hospital , and we were sending out COVID tests , I followed what the CDC guidance was .
I told patients , “ Let us know if you get short of breath.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ posters from the CDC that say , “ Do not go to the hospital if you have a cough or you have shortness of breath .
Only go to the hospital if you have trouble breathing , you ’ re unable to be awoken , or you turn blue.
” Well , in hindsight , what I now appreciate is that a very , very small number of patients have subjective shortness of breath .
When they do get short of breath , they ’ re really ill .
So , the public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs to know that earlier diagnosis , identification that you have COVID , and then monitoring with one of these little devices can warn you about the need to return and be hospitalized .
And if you come in earlier , we can do much better treating your pneumonia , identifying how much inflammation there is , getting drugs into you , and other things .
AMY GOODMAN : Dr. Richard Levitan , you were incredibly brave to come from this rural area in New Hampshire to New York , come back to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bellevue , a city hospital , to say you want to offer your services .
We know the kind of threat you yourself put yourself in , the dangerous situation , and so many doctors , nurses , staffers at hospitals , the people who clean up , are in that kind of situation every day .
And yet , when you came to New York to offer your services , can you describe what happened when you found a place to stay , your brother ’ s apartment , what the building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So , I got kicked out of my brother ’ s apartment when they found out I was working at Bellevue .
But , you know , let me just say that the people in New York City , the frontline healthcare workers , my friends in emergency medicine departments around the city , you know , they were in this fight for weeks before I arrived .
They ’ re still in this fight now .
I spent 10 days .
You know , the heroes here are the people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I just — AMY GOODMAN : But I just want to point out , here we are , based in New York City , in the epicenter of the pandemic .
The building , the co-op that your brother is in , they kicked you out because you were a doctor who came in and were working at Bellevue ?
They said you couldn ’ t stay there ?
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN : You know , so , this pandemic , this virus , has scared a lot of people .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out , yeah , that ’ s what landed me in a story in The New York Times .
But what ended up happening , and over the course of my 10 days , was this amazing transformation in care , that , over time , we learned that a lot of patients with severe COVID pneumonia could actually be managed without ventilators .
And that realization actually led me to recontact Jim Dwyer at The New York Times , who had done the first article about me .
And he subsequently produced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stein , who had an incredible video , discussing what doctors wished they had known a month ago .
And what it ended up doing was kind of explaining how dramatically practice has changed .
And this is a great message for the public to understand , that — AMY GOODMAN : We have 10 seconds .
Ten seconds .
Go ahead , Dr. Levitan .
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN : Right .
So , about two out of three patients who we now see with COVID pneumonia , we can manage without ventilators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll link to Jim Dwyer ’ s piece and your own op-ed piece .
Dr. Richard Levitan , thank you for coming to New York to help us here .
Dr. Levitan is an emergency physician in Littleton , New Hampshire , volunteered at Bellevue Hospital , a public hospital in New York , for 10 days at the height of the COVID-19 surge in April .
That does it for our show .
A very Happy Birthday to Denis Moynihan !
Democracy Now !
is working with as few people on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our amazing team is working from home .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Thanks so much for joining us .
Stay safe .

We speak with Dr. Richard Levitan, an emergency physician based in Littleton, New Hampshire, who volunteered at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for 10 days at the height of the COVID-19 surge in April. Based on what he saw, he argues patients should be going to hospitals sooner and that medical professionals could use a small device you clip on your fingertip, called a pulse oximeter, to help detect the virus earlier by revealing oxygenation problems and elevated heart rates. “A pulse oximeter is just a measure of identifying how well the lungs are working, and, I believe, can be basically an early warning system in terms of patients to know who has COVID pneumonia,” says Dr. Levitan.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to our last segment. This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we look at the effort to save more lives as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the United States and around the world. Even as President Trump presses states to begin reopening, he predicted Sunday the U.S. death toll from the pandemic could reach 100,000 — a number far higher than his earlier estimate a week or two ago of 60,000.
We’re joined now by Dr. Richard Levitan, an emergency physician who’s usually based in Littleton, New Hampshire, but he came down to New York to volunteer at one of the public hospitals, at Bellevue Hospital, where my dad used to work, in Manhattan, for 10 days at the height of the COVID-19 surge in April. He was shocked by what he saw. He wrote about what he learned in The New York Times op-ed headlined “The Infection That’s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients.” In it, he writes, “I realized that we are not detecting the deadly pneumonia the virus causes early enough and that we could be doing more to keep patients off ventilators — and alive.”
Dr. Levitan, if you could tell us how exactly you do that? Welcome.
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN: Thank you for having me. For the last 30 years in medicine, we have used a fifth vital sign. So, the standard vital signs of heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, respiratory rate, we’ve added a fifth vital sign. That fifth vital sign is pulse oximetry. And what it does is it measures the saturation of oxygen in the blood. And what I noticed while working in New York is these patients came in with alarmingly low oxygen saturations, but they did not, subjectively, actually feel short of breath.
AMY GOODMAN: So, explain this oximeter. Explain exactly what it is. And interestingly, the inventor of the oximeter, Takuo Aoyagi — an ingenious and indispensable medical device, as many are describing it — just died, and his death was just announced.
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN: Yeah. So, if you’ve interacted with the healthcare system at all in the last 30 years, you’ve had a small probe placed on your finger. In the hospital, those probes connect up to our monitors. But there also now fingertip versions of this. And these devices are very inexpensive, and they are widely available. They are present or ready on every ambulance, in every hospital, in every doctor’s office, actually in every nursing home. They exist widely. And this device gives you two numbers. It gives you a heart rate, and it gives you an oxygen saturation.
And so, what is remarkable about this is that the cause of death in COVID, overwhelmingly, is pneumonia. Pneumonia triggers hospitalization, and often requirements for mechanical ventilation, and then all these problems ensue after the lungs get severely injured. And a pulse oximeter is just a measure of identifying how well the lungs are working, and, I believe, can be basically an early warning system in terms of patients to know who has COVID pneumonia.
AMY GOODMAN: So, describe what doctors all over the country, and nurses, are seeing in hospitals, something that they really haven’t seen before, where someone will be on their cellphone, they’ll be talking to the doctors and nurses, and then suddenly crash. Explain that. And then talk also about your concern about people being put on ventilators. What? At this point, something like 85% of people who have been put on ventilators die?
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN: So, the rate of death on ventilators varies dramatically. And unfortunately, the public has the perception that everybody who gets put on a ventilator dies. It really depends how sick you are on presentation. If you are elderly, if your lungs are terribly involved, you know, your mortality, being put on a ventilator, is high. But among young people, actually, the death rate on ventilators is much lower. So, I don’t want the public to be scared that if their loved one winds up on a ventilator, that that necessarily means a death sentence.
But it is a bad thing when people get COVID pneumonia and they present late. In terms of their presentation, we see all the time in emergency medicine that when people choke, when they drown, anything that affects oxygen going to the brain, when that happens quickly, patients pass out, or they have seizures. The remarkable thing about these patients are they come in with oximetry readings, pulse oximetry readings, oxygen saturation readings, half-normal, as low as 50%. And we normally have an oxygen saturation between 94 and 100. But so, these people are there with these incredibly low readings, and their brain is working fine, and they’re on their cellphone. And what they have done, as an adaptation to this low oxygen caused by the pneumonia, is they have silently kind of increased their breathing rate over days. And they only come in when they get either short of breath or a fever, but that happens late in the process. Subjective shortness of breath is not something that the patients appreciate, because this disease basically silently advances until they get seriously ill.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, you’re saying, when people are told, “Do not go into the emergency room before you have that shortness of breath. Just stay at home,” can be a real problem, that people are holding off to the end, when it could be too late?
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN: Well, looking back on my own experience with COVID before I went to New York, and I was evaluating patients in the hospital, and we were sending out COVID tests, I followed what the CDC guidance was. I told patients, “Let us know if you get short of breath.” There are, in fact, posters from the CDC that say, “Do not go to the hospital if you have a cough or you have shortness of breath. Only go to the hospital if you have trouble breathing, you’re unable to be awoken, or you turn blue.”
Well, in hindsight, what I now appreciate is that a very, very small number of patients have subjective shortness of breath. When they do get short of breath, they’re really ill. So, the public messaging needs to change. The public needs to know that earlier diagnosis, identification that you have COVID, and then monitoring with one of these little devices can warn you about the need to return and be hospitalized. And if you come in earlier, we can do much better treating your pneumonia, identifying how much inflammation there is, getting drugs into you, and other things.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Richard Levitan, you were incredibly brave to come from this rural area in New Hampshire to New York, come back to where you grew up, but to Bellevue, a city hospital, to say you want to offer your services. We know the kind of threat you yourself put yourself in, the dangerous situation, and so many doctors, nurses, staffers at hospitals, the people who clean up, are in that kind of situation every day. And yet, when you came to New York to offer your services, can you describe what happened when you found a place to stay, your brother’s apartment, what the building did?
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN: Yeah. So, I got kicked out of my brother’s apartment when they found out I was working at Bellevue. But, you know, let me just say that the people in New York City, the frontline healthcare workers, my friends in emergency medicine departments around the city, you know, they were in this fight for weeks before I arrived. They’re still in this fight now. I spent 10 days. You know, the heroes here are the people who are in this for the long haul. I just —
AMY GOODMAN: But I just want to point out, here we are, based in New York City, in the epicenter of the pandemic. The building, the co-op that your brother is in, they kicked you out because you were a doctor who came in and were working at Bellevue? They said you couldn’t stay there?
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN: You know, so, this pandemic, this virus, has scared a lot of people. And, you know, as it turns out, yeah, that’s what landed me in a story in The New York Times.
But what ended up happening, and over the course of my 10 days, was this amazing transformation in care, that, over time, we learned that a lot of patients with severe COVID pneumonia could actually be managed without ventilators. And that realization actually led me to recontact Jim Dwyer at The New York Times, who had done the first article about me. And he subsequently produced an incredible article, along with Robin Stein, who had an incredible video, discussing what doctors wished they had known a month ago. And what it ended up doing was kind of explaining how dramatically practice has changed. And this is a great message for the public to understand, that —
AMY GOODMAN: We have 10 seconds. Ten seconds. Go ahead, Dr. Levitan.
DR. RICHARD LEVITAN: Right. So, about two out of three patients who we now see with COVID pneumonia, we can manage without ventilators.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’ll link to Jim Dwyer’s piece and your own op-ed piece. Dr. Richard Levitan, thank you for coming to New York to help us here. Dr. Levitan is an emergency physician in Littleton, New Hampshire, volunteered at Bellevue Hospital, a public hospital in New York, for 10 days at the height of the COVID-19 surge in April.
That does it for our show. A very Happy Birthday to Denis Moynihan!
Democracy Now! is working with as few people on site as possible. The majority of our amazing team is working from home. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us. Stay safe.


truthout--2020-05-04--Surviving Pandemics Is Indigenous Resistance

Kelly Hayes talks with Morning Star Gali about Native life and death in the age of COVID-19 .
Note : This a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity .
Copy may not be in its final form .
Kelly Hayes : Welcome to Movement Memos , a Truthout podcast about things you should know if you want to change the world .
I ’ m your host , Kelly Hayes .
Today ’ s guest is Morning Star Gali .
Morning Star is a longtime Native organizer and a member of the Ajumawi band of the Pit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ annual thankstaking Alcatraz gatherings for over 12 years and is a tribal water organizer for Save California Salmon .
Morning Star has led large-scale direct actions throughout the state of California while also organizing Native cultural and political events around issues like climate justice , the protection of sacred sites and justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women .
Morning Star Gali , welcome to the show .
Morning Star Gali : Thank you so much for having me on Kelly .
KH : How are you doing today , friend ?
MG @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the better days .
But hanging in there for sure .
KH : I hear that .
These are stressful times and I am so grateful to have you with us today to talk about how COVID-19 is affecting Native people in the United States .
This society already has a long history of killing Native people , or simply robbing us of any means of survival and leaving us for dead .
Now , we are seeing our peoples cope with the threat of COVID-19 , a crisis that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the systemic violence we were already faced with .
The tribal government of my own nation , the Menominee nation , has declared a state of emergency and established a curfew , in addition to asking tribal members to practice social distancing .
Fortunately , my people have not yet seen any known fatalities as a result of COVID-19 , but we know that ’ s not the case in some parts of Indian Country , and that all of our communities are incredibly vulnerable to this illness .
Visibility is always a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis .
As Rebecca Nagle highlighted in a recent piece in The Guardian , Native people are largely being left out of demographic data about the spread of COVID-19 .
Of the states that are actually tracking racial and demographic data , only about half are including Native people in their statistical breakdowns .
Some are categorizing us as “ other.
” Can you say a bit about what we know and don ’ t know , in terms of how COVID-19 is impacting Native people ?
MG : Sure .
I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re more often than not categorized as “ other , ” especially within institutions , where “ Native American ” and can be misidentified as “ NA , ” not applicable .
We see that all the time within , institutions and schools .
I know that many times .
My health charts have said that I ’ m white or that I ’ m “ other.
” So it ’ s , it ’ s a constant issue to address .
What ’ s not as well known within the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s just a lot of misconceptions .
What we ’ re seeing right now is a lot of attention on hotspot areas such as Navajo Nation and South Dakota .
What ’ s not being as reported is the structural barriers in place for our tribal and inner tribal communities .
So the reality is that many of our communities are without electricity , they ’ re without clean drinking water .
They face a lack of sanitation within their homes .
Again , that is an issue of Indian Health Services being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic inequalities both historical and modern day impacts .
Indian Health Services being chronically underfunded means that every Indian health service patient is receiving one quarter of the allocation that Medicare recipients receive .
KH : Jen Deerinwater wrote a moving op-ed for Truthout recently about Native life at the intersection of Indigenity , disability and poverty .
Native people have the highest rates of disability in the US .
We also have the highest levels of poverty , the least internet access , and a historically underfunded healthcare system that lacks the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Could you say a bit about what Native communities are up against in the fight against COVID-19 ?
MG : The information that we are receiving is overwhelming at this point .
So when we talk about impacts across Turtle Island , in terms of data , the racial distribution of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in California is that , as Native peoples , we represent 0.5 percent of the population and we are accounting 0.4 percent of the [ COVID-19 related ] deaths in California .
This includes , at this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among American Indian and Alaska Native peoples in California .
We ’ re accounting for 0.2 percent of the general COVID-19 cases .
And again , we feel that that is under counting .
Federally recognized tribes have received $ 0 in the CARES tribal set aside programs .
So there was $ 8 billion that was allocated .
$ 4.2 billion of that is supposed to go to Alaska native corporations .
So the tribes are suing for that right now .
Zero was allocated to unacknowledged tribes , of which includes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s known as NFR .
So that means that any state recognized tribes , terminated tribes , disenfranchised and disenrolled tribal members , of which we have many here in California , none of these tribes or tribal peoples are , they are not eligible for these , these set aside funds .
And so we have another situation where the federal government created these barriers where they are failing in meeting their end of treaty obligations through a failed Indian healthcare system .
So we ’ re in a moment in Indian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closing their borders , that tribes have instituted curfews .
As we know that we are predisposed with a multitude of health issues , and we ’ re at an enormous disadvantage when , especially when those tribes are not able to operate Indian health service clinics and have historically been deemed ineligible to operate the clinics within their tribal territories .
So the challenges of accumulating PPE and shortages of doctors and nurses , that was already rampant , is contributing to the lack of adequate healthcare .
Indian Health Service has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allocate funds to meet the healthcare needs of Indians .
KH : Sixty-six tribes have declared a state of emergency in response to COVID-19 , but unlike federal and state declarations , tribal emergency declarations don ’ t necessarily help usher in resources .
In some ways , our nations have been in a state of emergency since the onset of colonization , and throughout that time , our peoples have been invisibilized during national moments of crisis .
The 1918 flu epidemic , also known as the Spanish Flu , which has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particularly devastating for Native people .
Across the United States , fatality rates on reservations were four times higher than the national average , with entire Native families being wiped out within days of each other .
The deprivation of resources and the weaponization of disease have been part of a larger genocidal process in Indian Country .
Much like Black people , who are dying at very high rates of COVID-19 , due to anti-Black structural racism , Native people have traditionally been viewed as disposable under white supremacy in the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ itself in this moment ?
MG : We have seen the weaponization of disease used against tribal populations since times of first contact .
We have been dealing with a pandemic since 527 years ago when diseases such as smallpox were transmitted to us through germ warfare , biological warfare , and that ’ s never really disappeared for us .
So now we ’ re in a moment where we are collectively experiencing this .
Yet the violence and terrorism has been a stark reality for us .
And it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ although COVID-19 hasn ’ t hit some of our tribal areas that are considered rural , there are already plans to open back up , and tourists are flocking there for public recreation .
So when we have issues such as campgrounds not being managed , and a lack of maintenance services , that ’ s putting our communities even more at risk .
I ’ ll also add that there ’ s major sovereignty rights violations that are occurring .
Governor Newsom here in California postponed the opening of the fishing season @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s great for public access , but that needs to include tribal exemptions and exclusions within those orders .
KH : Shelter-in-place orders have proven especially difficult for people with mental health concerns and people living with addiction .
We know that , due to intergenerational trauma and violence of poverty , Native people have high rates of addiction and mental health issues , and that adequate treatment is rarely available .
My own tribal government has been sharing resources online to help people connect with 12 Step meetings remotely , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with addiction , mental health issues and emotional turmoil related to this crisis .
What kind of efforts to address mental health and addiction during this crisis are you seeing in Indian Country ?
MG : Sure so , yes , we have high rates of addiction and mental health issues that are absolutely going untreated .
Many of these issues of addiction go back to trauma and abuse .
Because of the lack of funding , acute issues are treated and are prioritized and there is little funding for preventative care services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that go untreated due to a lack of infrastructure in the Indian healthcare systems .
But addressing the why of that is necessary , addressing the eras of termination and removal of Native peoples from their homelands , from their food systems , from the cultural support that is needed .
So in terms of what virtual support looks like at this time and the time of this pandemic , we are seeing a lot of Native wellness groups that are hosting virtual sessions such as therapy sessions .
There ’ s Native @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talking circles and memorials being held .
But again , having access is a huge barrier that many families within rural areas do not have access to wifi .
There is a lack of access to hotspots and Chromebooks for students to be able to complete coursework at this time .
And again , that goes back to systemic issues .
It ’ s important to address the root causes of the realities that we face .
We have high rates of child abuse , sexual abuse , domestic violence , and food @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always this way for us .
When I talk about system impacted youth , I say that a hundred percent of Native youth are system impacted due to the systems of colonialism , missionization boarding schools and the reservation systems .
And so that ’ s what ’ s caused the high rates of PTSD and a breakdown of our mental and physical health due to the structural and systemic violence .
KH : Mutual aid efforts have offered struggling communities a glimmer of hope during quarantine .
With so many people out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and organizers have dropped whatever they were doing to organize mutual aid projects .
Native young people in Chicago , with Chi-Youth Nations , are doing grocery runs for elders in our communities here , and I ’ ve seen other Native-led mutual aid projects popping up online .
Can you tell us what some of the survival work Native people have mobilized looks like ?
MG : Sure .
Principles of reciprocity are our Indigenous values .
So that ’ s how we ’ ve survived for the past 160 years is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so the values that we ’ re seeing , the way that it ’ s playing out right now , in terms of , don ’ t take more than you need , you know , don ’ t hoard essential items , prioritizing elders and youth , those are all part of our ceremonial frameworks .
Protecting , you know , the land that we love .
As Native peoples , we have always had organized mutual aid networks , even if we didn ’ t call them explicitly so .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and organizing was just natural .
It was the environment that we were raised in .
And so I never really considered organizing necessarily a skill , but something that we just did and had a responsibility to , to contribute in serving our communities .
And so this is how our people have historically and generationally taken care of one another , as organizing support through indigenous life-ways as a matter of survival .
So as organizers and figuring out ways to provide mutual aid , especially to those in our communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we ’ re seeing that happening all across Indian Country .
Native peoples of every agent generation are stepping up to help one another , whether that ’ s putting together food boxes for elders when it ’ s not safe for them to go shopping , to sewing masks for one another , working through tribal networks on emergency responses , and how to support disabled populations .
As Native peoples taking care of one another , you know , that that is our values .
And so naturally we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experiences , of how to look after one another of how to look after our communities .
It is because of our traditional and cultural life-ways .
That ’ s what got us through .
We ’ re seeing at this time that individualism doesn ’ t work for any of us .
That capitalism is failing and doesn ’ t work for our survival .
And so the conversations of Medicare for All , even the stimulus checks , you know , we are seeing that collective wellbeing is what works best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I know you have made a mission of highlighting the disproportionate impact of the criminal injustice system on Native people .
As most of our listeners know , COVID-19 is spreading at a disastrous rate through jails , prisons and detention centers around the country .
What can you tell our listeners about the carceral violence that Native people were already experiencing , prior to COVID-19 , and how the virus has exacerbated that violence ?
MG : Sure .
So I ’ ll start with my personal mission of highlighting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peoples is very much a personal one .
My father was incarcerated at San Quentin state penitentiary for seven years .
While he was incarcerated , he contracted Hepatitis C , which led to a failure of his major organs , including his liver , and ultimately led to his death .
And this was 25 years ago .
And so I currently have immediate family members that are incarcerated , and we know that these institutions are not equipped to provide our relatives with clean water and sanitation , which is necessary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ultimately infecting them .
So the water and many of the nearby institutions is toxic .
It has arsenic and e coli in it which exceeds state levels .
Just last year in 2019 there were lawsuits as incarcerated peoples were contracting Legionnaires ’ disease from toxic drinking water , and Legionnaires ’ disease can lead to increased cases of pneumonia .
So these are human rights violations that are occurring .
And when combined with the issues , the health issues that were mentioned earlier , this is continued violence against Native @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a compassionate release for a California Native elder who ’ s in his late sixties and he served 35 years now in another state , and his tribal leadership supports this release and wants him home with his family .
He can ’ t walk more than 10 steps at this time without being winded and his family is pleading for his release , where he has received a life sentence .
We are in a moment where we see Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen that have or will be receiving releases due @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , such as Red Fawn and Leonard Peltier are not .
What we all just witnessed in the death of Andrea Circle Bear as the first female incarcerated person to pass [ in a federal facility ] is that women are birthing alone and in facilities that are much more of a risk to us .
And so it ’ s that much more important to return to and utilize our traditional birth ways because they are central to our survival at this time .
KH : As someone who has written a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , I found it especially heartbreaking to see the Circle Bear family name in yet another tragic headline .
The death of Sarah Lee Circle Bear in 2015 was utterly devastating .
For those who aren ’ t familiar , Sarah Lee Circle Bear was a young , pregnant Lakota woman who died in a holding cell after pleading for medical attention .
She was told by her captors to “ knock it off.
” Sarah ’ s sister-in-law Andrea died recently in federal custody , four weeks after giving birth while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What do you think of how the media has handled Andrea ’ s passing ?
MG : So Andrea Circle Bear lost her sister-in-law in 2015 that was also killed while in custody .
Andrea lost two of her sisters months apart from each other within 2017 .
Every major news story has included what her charges are .
So again , that goes back to the stereotyping and dehumanization of who we are as Native peoples .
And so if you read the articles that are circulating within Indian Country , from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talks about how she was a loving mother , how she wanted to return back to school , how she had all of these plans for herself and for her family .
Yet due to systemic inequalities , she was serving this sentence when she should not have even been incarcerated while pregnant at this time in a pandemic .
KH : In terms of what ’ s being done to help Native people survive this moment , are there methods or practices that you think are working ?
MG : So I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this moment and figuring out different ways to care for one another .
So we ’ re used to facing barriers within our everyday lives , but it ’ s a moment where it ’ s not safe to visit with one another within our communities .
Here in California , what ’ s been helpful is that there have been campaigns that acknowledge our elders as elders and differentiate between the term seniors .
And so , we ’ re seeing messaging , instead of saying you can only be with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we have large extended families , numerous relatives that we could be visiting , but ensuring that the messaging is , you know , staying in your household and staying with people within your household .
And I think that ’ s been really difficult in this shutdown .
Is that , you know , the inability to be able to visit , but again , having some sort of , you know , social media circle .
Here in California , one of our friends created a quarantine dance special , virtual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s over 58,000 members for it .
So that ’ s one way of keeping us connected is that those prayers are being made through our traditional songs and dances .
And keeping the people dancing is , is the way that we have kept the earth in balance and the way that we have helped to restore the earth .
So , you know , I ’ ve seen some tribal governments that are really making an effort to care for their tribal members for their families .
I think that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again , that comes down to an infrastructure issue .
KH : If people are listening and want to lend support to Native people in this time of crisis , where would you direct them right now ?
MG : I think that our friends in Dinéta really need our support at this time .
My mother and stepfather lived there .
Um , an uncle that is recovering from colon cancer .
They are on curfew .
They are not allowed to leave .
And when they are allowed to leave , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go get their groceries and go get their supplies .
They ’ re all elders .
They ’ re all immunocompromised , and they really feel like it ’ s only a matter of time before COVID-19 hits their household .
And that ’ s , that ’ s really difficult too , to have last conversations and to have your parents tell you , you know , “ Remember that I love you .
Remember that I love the kids.
” Because the reality is that we don ’ t know .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s going to take in terms of making it through .
There are some great networks .
There ’ s indigenousmutualaid.org and the Navajo Hopi Solidarity Network .
You can find them at indigenousaction.org or indigenousmutualaid.org .
If they can raise $ 16,000 , they can purchase a 4,000 gallon water truck , which would be life changing for so many families at this time .
We are launching a rapid response fund that prioritizes Indigenous women , two-spirit relatives and children , and ensuring their safety at this time .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can find more information about that .
And , you know , the reality is that we know what we need to do in taking care of our communities , but the resources are not available at this time .
The chronic underfunding of Indian Health Services within urban areas , where I live , urban tribal clinics only make up 1 percent of the IHS budget .
So , you know , that ’ s a challenge to navigate .
I know for myself and for my family when we are hours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t have access to health care services .
It ’ s definitely one incentive in terms of sheltering in place is that we can ’ t afford at all to get sick at this time .
KH : Well , I am so grateful to have those opportunities to support Native folks highlighted for our listeners today , and I feel sure that there are folks hearing this right now who are going to want to do their part to help .
If you all didn ’ t catch the names @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them linked in the transcript for this episode at truthout.org .
Morning Star Gali , I want to thank you so much for joining us today .
MG : Kelly Hayes , you are amazing .
Thank you so much for all that you are doing .
KH : I also want to thank our listeners for joining us today , and remember , our best defense cynicism is to do good and to remember that the good we do matters .
Until next time , I ’ ll see in the streets @

Wearing surgical gloves, Carol Pouliot cradles her phone with a photo of her hugging her mom in her room at a Worcester nursing home a month ago on April 4, 2020, in Bristol, Rhode Island. John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Part of the Series Movement Memos
Kelly Hayes talks with Morning Star Gali about Native life and death in the age of COVID-19.
Note: This a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity. Copy may not be in its final form.
TRANSCRIPT
Kelly Hayes: Welcome to Movement Memos, a Truthout podcast about things you should know if you want to change the world. I’m your host, Kelly Hayes. Today’s guest is Morning Star Gali. Morning Star is a longtime Native organizer and a member of the Ajumawi band of the Pit River Nation. She has coordinated the annual thankstaking Alcatraz gatherings for over 12 years and is a tribal water organizer for Save California Salmon. Morning Star has led large-scale direct actions throughout the state of California while also organizing Native cultural and political events around issues like climate justice, the protection of sacred sites and justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Morning Star Gali, welcome to the show.
Morning Star Gali: Thank you so much for having me on Kelly.
KH: How are you doing today, friend?
MG: You know, today is one of the better days. But hanging in there for sure.
KH: I hear that. These are stressful times and I am so grateful to have you with us today to talk about how COVID-19 is affecting Native people in the United States. This society already has a long history of killing Native people, or simply robbing us of any means of survival and leaving us for dead. Now, we are seeing our peoples cope with the threat of COVID-19, a crisis that’s effects are ramping up the intensity of the systemic violence we were already faced with. The tribal government of my own nation, the Menominee nation, has declared a state of emergency and established a curfew, in addition to asking tribal members to practice social distancing. Fortunately, my people have not yet seen any known fatalities as a result of COVID-19, but we know that’s not the case in some parts of Indian Country, and that all of our communities are incredibly vulnerable to this illness.
Visibility is always a concern in Native communities in any major crisis. As Rebecca Nagle highlighted in a recent piece in The Guardian, Native people are largely being left out of demographic data about the spread of COVID-19. Of the states that are actually tracking racial and demographic data, only about half are including Native people in their statistical breakdowns. Some are categorizing us as “other.” Can you say a bit about what we know and don’t know, in terms of how COVID-19 is impacting Native people?
MG: Sure. I’ll first start off by saying that we’re more often than not categorized as “other,” especially within institutions, where “Native American” and can be misidentified as “NA,” not applicable. We see that all the time within, institutions and schools. I know that many times. My health charts have said that I’m white or that I’m “other.” So it’s, it’s a constant issue to address. What’s not as well known within the media about native peoples, there’s just a lot of misconceptions. What we’re seeing right now is a lot of attention on hotspot areas such as Navajo Nation and South Dakota. What’s not being as reported is the structural barriers in place for our tribal and inner tribal communities. So the reality is that many of our communities are without electricity, they’re without clean drinking water. They face a lack of sanitation within their homes. Again, that is an issue of Indian Health Services being chronically underfunded. We are dealing with economic inequalities both historical and modern day impacts. Indian Health Services being chronically underfunded means that every Indian health service patient is receiving one quarter of the allocation that Medicare recipients receive.
KH: Jen Deerinwater wrote a moving op-ed for Truthout recently about Native life at the intersection of Indigenity, disability and poverty. Native people have the highest rates of disability in the US. We also have the highest levels of poverty, the least internet access, and a historically underfunded healthcare system that lacks the resources to rise to this moment. Could you say a bit about what Native communities are up against in the fight against COVID-19?
MG: The information that we are receiving is overwhelming at this point. So when we talk about impacts across Turtle Island, in terms of data, the racial distribution of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in California is that, as Native peoples, we represent 0.5 percent of the population and we are accounting 0.4 percent of the [COVID-19 related] deaths in California. This includes, at this time, 71 cases and seven deaths among American Indian and Alaska Native peoples in California. We’re accounting for 0.2 percent of the general COVID-19 cases. And again, we feel that that is under counting. Federally recognized tribes have received $0 in the CARES tribal set aside programs. So there was $8 billion that was allocated. $4.2 billion of that is supposed to go to Alaska native corporations. So the tribes are suing for that right now. Zero was allocated to unacknowledged tribes, of which includes non federally recognized tribes or what’s known as NFR. So that means that any state recognized tribes, terminated tribes, disenfranchised and disenrolled tribal members, of which we have many here in California, none of these tribes or tribal peoples are, they are not eligible for these, these set aside funds. And so we have another situation where the federal government created these barriers where they are failing in meeting their end of treaty obligations through a failed Indian healthcare system.
So we’re in a moment in Indian Country where we see reservations that are closing their borders, that tribes have instituted curfews. As we know that we are predisposed with a multitude of health issues, and we’re at an enormous disadvantage when, especially when those tribes are not able to operate Indian health service clinics and have historically been deemed ineligible to operate the clinics within their tribal territories.
So the challenges of accumulating PPE and shortages of doctors and nurses, that was already rampant, is contributing to the lack of adequate healthcare. Indian Health Service has stated itself that it cannot equitably allocate funds to meet the healthcare needs of Indians.
KH: Sixty-six tribes have declared a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, but unlike federal and state declarations, tribal emergency declarations don’t necessarily help usher in resources. In some ways, our nations have been in a state of emergency since the onset of colonization, and throughout that time, our peoples have been invisibilized during national moments of crisis. The 1918 flu epidemic, also known as the Spanish Flu, which has been widely compared to COVID-19, was particularly devastating for Native people. Across the United States, fatality rates on reservations were four times higher than the national average, with entire Native families being wiped out within days of each other. The deprivation of resources and the weaponization of disease have been part of a larger genocidal process in Indian Country. Much like Black people, who are dying at very high rates of COVID-19, due to anti-Black structural racism, Native people have traditionally been viewed as disposable under white supremacy in the U.S. How do you see that history manifesting itself in this moment?
MG: We have seen the weaponization of disease used against tribal populations since times of first contact. We have been dealing with a pandemic since 527 years ago when diseases such as smallpox were transmitted to us through germ warfare, biological warfare, and that’s never really disappeared for us. So now we’re in a moment where we are collectively experiencing this. Yet the violence and terrorism has been a stark reality for us. And it’s also really scary to see that, although COVID-19 hasn’t hit some of our tribal areas that are considered rural, there are already plans to open back up, and tourists are flocking there for public recreation. So when we have issues such as campgrounds not being managed, and a lack of maintenance services, that’s putting our communities even more at risk. I’ll also add that there’s major sovereignty rights violations that are occurring. Governor Newsom here in California postponed the opening of the fishing season and is closing down beaches. That’s great for public access, but that needs to include tribal exemptions and exclusions within those orders.
KH: Shelter-in-place orders have proven especially difficult for people with mental health concerns and people living with addiction. We know that, due to intergenerational trauma and violence of poverty, Native people have high rates of addiction and mental health issues, and that adequate treatment is rarely available. My own tribal government has been sharing resources online to help people connect with 12 Step meetings remotely, and highlighting other long-distance options for people struggling with addiction, mental health issues and emotional turmoil related to this crisis. What kind of efforts to address mental health and addiction during this crisis are you seeing in Indian Country?
MG: Sure so, yes, we have high rates of addiction and mental health issues that are absolutely going untreated. Many of these issues of addiction go back to trauma and abuse. Because of the lack of funding, acute issues are treated and are prioritized and there is little funding for preventative care services, and so we have high rates that go untreated due to a lack of infrastructure in the Indian healthcare systems. But addressing the why of that is necessary, addressing the eras of termination and removal of Native peoples from their homelands, from their food systems, from the cultural support that is needed.
So in terms of what virtual support looks like at this time and the time of this pandemic, we are seeing a lot of Native wellness groups that are hosting virtual sessions such as therapy sessions. There’s Native support helplines. There’s virtual talking circles and memorials being held. But again, having access is a huge barrier that many families within rural areas do not have access to wifi. There is a lack of access to hotspots and Chromebooks for students to be able to complete coursework at this time. And again, that goes back to systemic issues. It’s important to address the root causes of the realities that we face. We have high rates of child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and food insecurities, yet it wasn’t always this way for us. When I talk about system impacted youth, I say that a hundred percent of Native youth are system impacted due to the systems of colonialism, missionization boarding schools and the reservation systems. And so that’s what’s caused the high rates of PTSD and a breakdown of our mental and physical health due to the structural and systemic violence.
KH: Mutual aid efforts have offered struggling communities a glimmer of hope during quarantine. With so many people out of work, a lot of activists and organizers have dropped whatever they were doing to organize mutual aid projects. Native young people in Chicago, with Chi-Youth Nations, are doing grocery runs for elders in our communities here, and I’ve seen other Native-led mutual aid projects popping up online. Can you tell us what some of the survival work Native people have mobilized looks like?
MG: Sure. Principles of reciprocity are our Indigenous values. So that’s how we’ve survived for the past 160 years is by maintaining our cultural life-ways. And so the values that we’re seeing, the way that it’s playing out right now, in terms of, don’t take more than you need, you know, don’t hoard essential items, prioritizing elders and youth, those are all part of our ceremonial frameworks. Protecting, you know, the land that we love. As Native peoples, we have always had organized mutual aid networks, even if we didn’t call them explicitly so.
So I was born in a movement home and organizing was just natural. It was the environment that we were raised in. And so I never really considered organizing necessarily a skill, but something that we just did and had a responsibility to, to contribute in serving our communities. And so this is how our people have historically and generationally taken care of one another, as organizing support through indigenous life-ways as a matter of survival. So as organizers and figuring out ways to provide mutual aid, especially to those in our communities that are most vulnerable at this time, we’re seeing that happening all across Indian Country. Native peoples of every agent generation are stepping up to help one another, whether that’s putting together food boxes for elders when it’s not safe for them to go shopping, to sewing masks for one another, working through tribal networks on emergency responses, and how to support disabled populations. As Native peoples taking care of one another, you know, that that is our values. And so naturally we’re organizers. We have these collective experiences, of how to look after one another of how to look after our communities. It is because of our traditional and cultural life-ways. That’s what got us through. We’re seeing at this time that individualism doesn’t work for any of us. That capitalism is failing and doesn’t work for our survival. And so the conversations of Medicare for All, even the stimulus checks, you know, we are seeing that collective wellbeing is what works best.
KH: In your own work, I know you have made a mission of highlighting the disproportionate impact of the criminal injustice system on Native people. As most of our listeners know, COVID-19 is spreading at a disastrous rate through jails, prisons and detention centers around the country. What can you tell our listeners about the carceral violence that Native people were already experiencing, prior to COVID-19, and how the virus has exacerbated that violence?
MG: Sure. So I’ll start with my personal mission of highlighting the impact of the injustice system on Native peoples is very much a personal one. My father was incarcerated at San Quentin state penitentiary for seven years. While he was incarcerated, he contracted Hepatitis C, which led to a failure of his major organs, including his liver, and ultimately led to his death. And this was 25 years ago. And so I currently have immediate family members that are incarcerated, and we know that these institutions are not equipped to provide our relatives with clean water and sanitation, which is necessary to keep this virus from spreading and ultimately infecting them.
So the water and many of the nearby institutions is toxic. It has arsenic and e coli in it which exceeds state levels. Just last year in 2019 there were lawsuits as incarcerated peoples were contracting Legionnaires’ disease from toxic drinking water, and Legionnaires’ disease can lead to increased cases of pneumonia. So these are human rights violations that are occurring. And when combined with the issues, the health issues that were mentioned earlier, this is continued violence against Native peoples. We are currently working on a compassionate release for a California Native elder who’s in his late sixties and he served 35 years now in another state, and his tribal leadership supports this release and wants him home with his family. He can’t walk more than 10 steps at this time without being winded and his family is pleading for his release, where he has received a life sentence.
We are in a moment where we see Michael Flynn and Michael Cohen that have or will be receiving releases due to COVID-19, yet our political prisoners, such as Red Fawn and Leonard Peltier are not. What we all just witnessed in the death of Andrea Circle Bear as the first female incarcerated person to pass [in a federal facility] is that women are birthing alone and in facilities that are much more of a risk to us. And so it’s that much more important to return to and utilize our traditional birth ways because they are central to our survival at this time.
KH: As someone who has written a great deal about state violence against Native people, I found it especially heartbreaking to see the Circle Bear family name in yet another tragic headline. The death of Sarah Lee Circle Bear in 2015 was utterly devastating. For those who aren’t familiar, Sarah Lee Circle Bear was a young, pregnant Lakota woman who died in a holding cell after pleading for medical attention. She was told by her captors to “knock it off.” Sarah’s sister-in-law Andrea died recently in federal custody, four weeks after giving birth while on a ventilator due to COVID-19. What do you think of how the media has handled Andrea’s passing?
MG: So Andrea Circle Bear lost her sister-in-law in 2015 that was also killed while in custody. Andrea lost two of her sisters months apart from each other within 2017. Every major news story has included what her charges are. So again, that goes back to the stereotyping and dehumanization of who we are as Native peoples. And so if you read the articles that are circulating within Indian Country, from her grandmother, you know, it talks about how she was a loving mother, how she wanted to return back to school, how she had all of these plans for herself and for her family. Yet due to systemic inequalities, she was serving this sentence when she should not have even been incarcerated while pregnant at this time in a pandemic.
KH: In terms of what’s being done to help Native people survive this moment, are there methods or practices that you think are working?
MG: So I see that people are being really creative in this moment and figuring out different ways to care for one another. So we’re used to facing barriers within our everyday lives, but it’s a moment where it’s not safe to visit with one another within our communities. Here in California, what’s been helpful is that there have been campaigns that acknowledge our elders as elders and differentiate between the term seniors. And so, we’re seeing messaging, instead of saying you can only be with your family at this time, because we have large extended families, numerous relatives that we could be visiting, but ensuring that the messaging is, you know, staying in your household and staying with people within your household.
And I think that’s been really difficult in this shutdown. Is that, you know, the inability to be able to visit, but again, having some sort of, you know, social media circle. Here in California, one of our friends created a quarantine dance special, virtual community of that, I think there’s over 58,000 members for it. So that’s one way of keeping us connected is that those prayers are being made through our traditional songs and dances. And keeping the people dancing is, is the way that we have kept the earth in balance and the way that we have helped to restore the earth. So, you know, I’ve seen some tribal governments that are really making an effort to care for their tribal members for their families. I think that some could be doing more, but again, that comes down to an infrastructure issue.
KH: If people are listening and want to lend support to Native people in this time of crisis, where would you direct them right now?
MG: I think that our friends in Dinéta really need our support at this time. My mother and stepfather lived there. Um, an uncle that is recovering from colon cancer. They are on curfew. They are not allowed to leave. And when they are allowed to leave, they have to drive 75 miles to go get their groceries and go get their supplies. They’re all elders. They’re all immunocompromised, and they really feel like it’s only a matter of time before COVID-19 hits their household. And that’s, that’s really difficult too, to have last conversations and to have your parents tell you, you know, “Remember that I love you. Remember that I love the kids.” Because the reality is that we don’t know. We don’t know what it’s going to take in terms of making it through. There are some great networks. There’s indigenousmutualaid.org and the Navajo Hopi Solidarity Network. You can find them at indigenousaction.org or indigenousmutualaid.org. If they can raise $16,000, they can purchase a 4,000 gallon water truck, which would be life changing for so many families at this time. We are launching a rapid response fund that prioritizes Indigenous women, two-spirit relatives and children, and ensuring their safety at this time. So if you go to indigenousjustice.org, you can find more information about that. And, you know, the reality is that we know what we need to do in taking care of our communities, but the resources are not available at this time.
The chronic underfunding of Indian Health Services within urban areas, where I live, urban tribal clinics only make up 1 percent of the IHS budget. So, you know, that’s a challenge to navigate. I know for myself and for my family when we are hours away from our tribal homeland and we don’t have access to health care services. It’s definitely one incentive in terms of sheltering in place is that we can’t afford at all to get sick at this time.
KH: Well, I am so grateful to have those opportunities to support Native folks highlighted for our listeners today, and I feel sure that there are folks hearing this right now who are going to want to do their part to help. If you all didn’t catch the names of those websites, we will have them linked in the transcript for this episode at truthout.org. Morning Star Gali, I want to thank you so much for joining us today.
MG: Kelly Hayes, you are amazing. Thank you so much for all that you are doing.
KH: I also want to thank our listeners for joining us today, and remember, our best defense cynicism is to do good and to remember that the good we do matters. Until next time, I’ll see in the streets.
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truthout--2020-05-04--Trump Just Doubled His Previous Projections for COVID-19 Deaths in the US

President Donald Trump took part in a virtual town hall event on Sunday hosted by Fox News , in which he — yet again — altered his projections for how many Americans could die from COVID-19 .
Though the president made sure to say that no deaths at all would have been preferable , he seemed to imply that no matter the outcome , he would still view his actions as a success .
“ Look , we ’ re going to lose anywhere from 75 , 80 to 100,000 people .
That ’ s a horrible thing .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this , ” Trump said .
But he credited his administration with staving off millions of deaths , which would have happened , Trump said , if he hadn ’ t pushed for social distancing measures at all in mid-March .
Trump also lashed out at China , seemingly putting all of the blame for the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. on that nation ’ s leaders .
“ And my opinion is they ’ ve made a mistake , they tried to cover it , they tried to put it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s like a fire .
You know , it ’ s really like trying to put out a fire .
They couldn ’ t put out the fire.
” Trump ’ s new numbers are a notable contrast to what he and his administration have said would be a successful outcome prior to last weekend , as the number of deaths counted keeps rising .
On April 20 , for instance , Trump implied that anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 deaths would be a good result , since previous projections put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 240,000 .
And last week , Trump ’ s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner called 60,000 deaths a “ great success story.
” As of Monday morning , close to 70,000 deaths have been recorded in the United States due to COVID-19 .
But while Trump keeps changing his barometer for success , researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have identified tens of thousands of excess deaths that have occurred from the start of March to mid-April , numbers that , according to reporting from Vice News , suggest the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus .
New research also shows that ending social distancing measures , as Trump has been pushing for several weeks , will likely result in a higher death toll as well .
According to figures from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( the president ’ s alma mater ) , if stay-at-home rules remain in place , about 117,000 Americans are predicted to die , in total , from March to the end of June .
But if social distancing measures are relaxed , with a full “ reopening ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that number jumps up to 350,000 dead in that timeframe — a number that ’ s more than 45 percent higher than the White House ’ s grimmest predictions made in early April .
To ensure numbers stay lower rather than higher , Deborah Birx , a member of Trump ’ s coronavirus task force , has stated that social distancing should remain in place “ through the summer to really ensure that we protect one another.
” Yet during the town hall with Fox News on Sunday , Trump stated that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states to do otherwise .
“ Certain states are going to have to take a little more time getting opened and they ’ re doing that .
Some states , I think frankly , aren ’ t going fast enough , ” he said .
Trump ’ s efforts to put blame solely on China for the growth of the pandemic in the U.S. during the town hall are also misplaced , especially since the president ignored warnings from his intelligence officials about the disease possibly as many as a dozen times .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , experts have noted , may be due to the slow response by the Trump administration to deal with the disease when others were calling for more action to be taken early on .
One study found that as many as 37,000 deaths could have been avoided had the president insisted on implementing social distancing measures just one week earlier than he had in March .
During that time , however , Trump was incorrectly comparing COVID-19 to the flu , and in late February , had dismissed criticisms of his response as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .

Trump said as many as 100,000 could die from coronavirus, though some researchers say even that estimate is too low.
President Donald Trump took part in a virtual town hall event on Sunday hosted by Fox News, in which he — yet again — altered his projections for how many Americans could die from COVID-19.
Though the president made sure to say that no deaths at all would have been preferable, he seemed to imply that no matter the outcome, he would still view his actions as a success.
“Look, we’re going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 100,000 people. That’s a horrible thing. We shouldn’t lose one person out of this,” Trump said. But he credited his administration with staving off millions of deaths, which would have happened, Trump said, if he hadn’t pushed for social distancing measures at all in mid-March.
Trump also lashed out at China, seemingly putting all of the blame for the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. on that nation’s leaders. “And my opinion is they’ve made a mistake, they tried to cover it, they tried to put it out,” Trump said. “It’s like a fire. You know, it’s really like trying to put out a fire. They couldn’t put out the fire.”
Trump’s new numbers are a notable contrast to what he and his administration have said would be a successful outcome prior to last weekend, as the number of deaths counted keeps rising. On April 20, for instance, Trump implied that anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 deaths would be a good result, since previous projections put the potential death toll between 100,000 to 240,000. And last week, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner called 60,000 deaths a “great success story.”
As of Monday morning, close to 70,000 deaths have been recorded in the United States due to COVID-19. But while Trump keeps changing his barometer for success, researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have identified tens of thousands of excess deaths that have occurred from the start of March to mid-April, numbers that, according to reporting from Vice News, suggest the U.S. may have already surpassed 100,000 deaths from coronavirus.
New research also shows that ending social distancing measures, as Trump has been pushing for several weeks, will likely result in a higher death toll as well.
According to figures from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (the president’s alma mater), if stay-at-home rules remain in place, about 117,000 Americans are predicted to die, in total, from March to the end of June. But if social distancing measures are relaxed, with a full “reopening” of the country happening right now, that number jumps up to 350,000 dead in that timeframe — a number that’s more than 45 percent higher than the White House’s grimmest predictions made in early April.
To ensure numbers stay lower rather than higher, Deborah Birx, a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, has stated that social distancing should remain in place “through the summer to really ensure that we protect one another.”
Yet during the town hall with Fox News on Sunday, Trump stated that the time was right for a number of states to do otherwise.
“Certain states are going to have to take a little more time getting opened and they’re doing that. Some states, I think frankly, aren’t going fast enough,” he said.
Trump’s efforts to put blame solely on China for the growth of the pandemic in the U.S. during the town hall are also misplaced, especially since the president ignored warnings from his intelligence officials about the disease possibly as many as a dozen times.
Some of the deaths in the U.S., experts have noted, may be due to the slow response by the Trump administration to deal with the disease when others were calling for more action to be taken early on.
One study found that as many as 37,000 deaths could have been avoided had the president insisted on implementing social distancing measures just one week earlier than he had in March. During that time, however, Trump was incorrectly comparing COVID-19 to the flu, and in late February, had dismissed criticisms of his response as a new political “hoax” against him.
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truthout--2020-05-04--Trump Restricts COVID-19 Relief Funds From Hospitals Serving Nation’s Poorest

Public health experts , state officials , and frontline medical workers are sounding the alarm and demanding an urgent change of course as the Trump administration disproportionately allocates Covid-19 relief funds to higher-revenue hospitals while restricting the flow of aid to providers that primarily serve low-income people .
The Los Angeles Times reported late last week that the Trump administration ’ s “ program to aid hospitals and doctors on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis is leaving behind the nation ’ s Medicaid safety net — the pediatricians , mental health providers , and hospitals that serve the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely to deepen inequalities in America ’ s healthcare system as tens of billions of dollars of federal assistance go primarily to large medical systems that serve higher-income patients with Medicare or private health insurance , ” the Times noted .
The CARES Act , which President Donald Trump signed into law in late March , included $ 100 billion in funding for U.S. hospitals , and the interim stimulus bill passed last month authorized $ 75 billion more .
The Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) has wide discretion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and critics are warning that the Trump administration is using that authority to deny relief to providers that serve more vulnerable populations .
As Common Dreams reported last month , the White House tapped the nation ’ s largest private health insurer , UnitedHealth Group , to help distribute $ 30 billion in hospital funds .
“ I don ’ t want to point fingers , but it seems like it ’ s the big players who are the ones who got listened to , ” Dr. Assaad Sayah , CEO of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Times .
“ Who is sitting at the table when decisions are being made ?
I know it ’ s not me .
It ’ s not organizations like us.
” As Rachana Pradhan and Lauren Weber of Kaiser Health News reported last month , “ the $ 30 billion was distributed to more than 300,000 entities around the country but the decision to rely on past Medicare billings meant many providers hardly got a bite of the apple , including children ’ s hospitals and nursing homes , which predominantly rely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” In a letter ( pdf ) to HHS Secretary Alex Azar last week , the American Academy of Family Physicians , the American Academy of Pediatrics , and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists warned that the “ situation facing frontline physicians is dire ” and will only get worse if the Trump administration doesn ’ t prioritize emergency funding for Medicaid providers .
“ Obstetrician-gynecologists , pediatricians , and family physicians are facing dramatic financial challenges leading to substantial layoffs and even practice closures , ” the organizations wrote .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to medically necessary and time-sensitive care during and after the public health emergency.
” Medicaid , which has been under attack by the Trump administration for years , provides crucial insurance coverage to around 70 million low-income Americans , including millions of children .
“ Medicaid is a lifeline for millions of Americans , and its importance has never been more clear as America grapples with the coronavirus crisis that threatens everyone ’ s health and safety , ” Brad Woodhouse , executive director of advocacy group Protect Our Care , said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has taken a back seat in the Trump administration ’ s distribution of relief funds , state officials are warning .
“ The bigger your Medicaid business , the worse you do , ” North Carolina Health Secretary Mandy Cohen told the Times .
As the Times reported , HHS initially doled out relief funds “ based on providers ’ Medicare revenues , a calculation that favored hospitals and physicians that care for large numbers of elderly patients.
” “ Last week , Azar announced yet another formula , which would allot additional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total revenues , ” the Times noted .
“ This tipped the scales even more toward hospitals , physicians , and other providers that care for patients with commercial health insurance , which typically pays them much higher rates than either Medicare or Medicaid , the two main government health plans .
Particularly disadvantaged are medical providers that focus on poor patients.
” Dr. Jennifer Sanderford , a Colorado-based pediatrician who serves Medicaid patients , told the Times that “ there is just money being hemorrhaged with nothing coming in.
” Sanderford said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a month and had to put vaccine orders for her patients on a credit card .
Moira Szilagyi , a pediatrician based in Los Angeles , called the Trump administration ’ s approach to the crisis “ a tragedy and a travesty.
” “ Forty-eight percent of America ’ s children are on Medicaid and CHIP , ” Szilagyi tweeted , referring to the Children ’ s Health Insurance Program .

Public health experts, state officials, and frontline medical workers are sounding the alarm and demanding an urgent change of course as the Trump administration disproportionately allocates Covid-19 relief funds to higher-revenue hospitals while restricting the flow of aid to providers that primarily serve low-income people.
The Los Angeles Times reported late last week that the Trump administration’s “program to aid hospitals and doctors on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis is leaving behind the nation’s Medicaid safety net — the pediatricians, mental health providers, and hospitals that serve the poorest patients.”
“That result is likely to deepen inequalities in America’s healthcare system as tens of billions of dollars of federal assistance go primarily to large medical systems that serve higher-income patients with Medicare or private health insurance,” the Times noted.
The CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in late March, included $100 billion in funding for U.S. hospitals, and the interim stimulus bill passed last month authorized $75 billion more.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has wide discretion over how those funds are distributed, and critics are warning that the Trump administration is using that authority to deny relief to providers that serve more vulnerable populations. As Common Dreams reported last month, the White House tapped the nation’s largest private health insurer, UnitedHealth Group, to help distribute $30 billion in hospital funds.
“I don’t want to point fingers, but it seems like it’s the big players who are the ones who got listened to,” Dr. Assaad Sayah, CEO of the Massachusetts-based provider Cambridge Health Alliance, told the Times. “Who is sitting at the table when decisions are being made? I know it’s not me. It’s not organizations like us.”
As Rachana Pradhan and Lauren Weber of Kaiser Health News reported last month, “the $30 billion was distributed to more than 300,000 entities around the country but the decision to rely on past Medicare billings meant many providers hardly got a bite of the apple, including children’s hospitals and nursing homes, which predominantly rely on Medicaid and other programs for reimbursement.”
Trump is using hospital bailout fund money to disproportionately help high revenue hospitals, and leave safety-net systems in the lurch. The CEO of my hospital system is quoted. https://t.co/3Xym7ZMEox — Adam W Gaffney (@awgaffney) May 2, 2020
In a letter (pdf) to HHS Secretary Alex Azar last week, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists warned that the “situation facing frontline physicians is dire” and will only get worse if the Trump administration doesn’t prioritize emergency funding for Medicaid providers.
“Obstetrician-gynecologists, pediatricians, and family physicians are facing dramatic financial challenges leading to substantial layoffs and even practice closures,” the organizations wrote. “These challenges threaten patients’ access to medically necessary and time-sensitive care during and after the public health emergency.”
Medicaid, which has been under attack by the Trump administration for years, provides crucial insurance coverage to around 70 million low-income Americans, including millions of children.
“Medicaid is a lifeline for millions of Americans, and its importance has never been more clear as America grapples with the coronavirus crisis that threatens everyone’s health and safety,” Brad Woodhouse, executive director of advocacy group Protect Our Care, said in a statement last Friday.
But Medicaid has taken a back seat in the Trump administration’s distribution of relief funds, state officials are warning. “The bigger your Medicaid business, the worse you do,” North Carolina Health Secretary Mandy Cohen told the Times.
As the Times reported, HHS initially doled out relief funds “based on providers’ Medicare revenues, a calculation that favored hospitals and physicians that care for large numbers of elderly patients.”
“Last week, Azar announced yet another formula, which would allot additional aid largely based on medical providers’ total revenues,” the Times noted. “This tipped the scales even more toward hospitals, physicians, and other providers that care for patients with commercial health insurance, which typically pays them much higher rates than either Medicare or Medicaid, the two main government health plans. Particularly disadvantaged are medical providers that focus on poor patients.”
Dr. Jennifer Sanderford, a Colorado-based pediatrician who serves Medicaid patients, told the Times that “there is just money being hemorrhaged with nothing coming in.” Sanderford said she hasn’t paid herself in a month and had to put vaccine orders for her patients on a credit card.
Moira Szilagyi, a pediatrician based in Los Angeles, called the Trump administration’s approach to the crisis “a tragedy and a travesty.”
“Forty-eight percent of America’s children are on Medicaid and CHIP,” Szilagyi tweeted, referring to the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.