public health

(LEFT TO RIGHT) DONOVAN CHA, MAR BRASSEA, AND VIDA HAMPSON WORK TOGETHER TO SOLVE A MATH PROBLEM IN ERIC MARSH’S THIRD-GRADE CLASS AT PRESCOTT ELEMENTARY IN PORTLAND, FEB. 8, 2022. IN OREGON, AFTER MARCH 11, SCHOOL DISTRICTS WILL BE FREE TO ADOPT THEIR OWN MASKING POLICIES./KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF / OPB

Oregon Joins Other West Coast States In Lifting School Mask Mandates On March 12

The governors of Oregon, Washington and California have announced masks will no longer be required in schools after Friday, March 11.

Mar 1, 2022

PEOPLE CELEBRATE ON AUG. 12, AFTER THE SALT LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL VOTED TO OVERTURN A SCHOOL MASK ORDER./AP PHOTO/RICK BOWMER

Over Half Of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic

A KHN investigation has found at least 26 states pushed through laws that permanently weaken government authority to protect public health.

Sep 16, 2021

World Trade Center memorial./Ged Lawson via Unsplash.com

Analysis: How the US Invested in the War on Terrorism at the Cost of Public Health

After 9/11, the United States rapidly shifted resources to create a massive infrastructure to ferret out and combat terrorism while forgetting that terrorism of nature can be equally deadly.

Mar 29, 2021

President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris./Shutterstock

Landmark COVID Relief Law Pumps More Than $100 Billion Into Public Health

Public advocates say that more sustained funding will be needed over the next decade and beyond to address long-festering problems.

Mar 18, 2021

SHUTTERSTOCK

Can Vaccination and Infection Rates Add Up to Reach COVID Herd Immunity?

With three vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — now authorized for emergency use in the United States, there seems to be hope that the pandemic’s end may be in sight.

Mar 17, 2021

SHUTTERSTOCK

As Pandemic Surged, Contact Tracing Struggled; Biden Looks to Boost It

As with everything covid right now — testing, vaccinations and hospital capacity — ramping up contact tracing has become a race against time as new, more contagious variants of the virus threaten to accelerate transmission of the disease

Feb 10, 2021

A nurse at Oregon Health & Science University was vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot on Wednesday. | FRED LIEDTKE/OHSU

Clark County Widens Access To COVID-19 Vaccine

The area was late in adding seniors 65 and older to its eligibility list along with 50-year-olds in multigenerational households but is now on par with the rest of the state.

Jan 20, 2021

This 2011 photo shows a youth reading a comic book in a typical cell at the Mulnomah County Donald E. Long Detention Center./Portland Tribune

Multnomah County Battles Workplace Outbreaks, Complaints

Documents and interviews reveal that managers either haven't taken safety precautions seriously enough to prevent outbreaks or made decisions that have increased the risk of infection.

Jan 13, 2021

1 Dead, 4 Hospitalized in Portland Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak

The outbreak at Rosemont Court, a North Portland senior housing complex, was traced to the water supply.

Jan 6, 2021

KHN ILLUSTRATION

Lie of the Year: The Downplay and Denial of the Coronavirus

Dec 16, 2020