Media Reports as a Tool for Timely Monitoring of COVID-19-Related Deaths Among First Responders-United States, April 2020.

Media Reports as a Tool for Timely Monitoring of COVID-19-Related Deaths Among First Responders-United States, April 2020. Public Health Rep. 2021 Feb 22;:33354921999171 Authors: Kelly-Reif K, Rinsky JL, Chiu SK, Burrer S, de Perio MA, Trotter AG, Miura SS, Seo JY, Hong R, Friedman L, Hand J, Richardson G, Sokol T, Sparer-Fine EH, Laing J, Oliveri A, McGreevy K, Borjan M, Harduar-Morano L, Luckhaupt SE Abstract We aimed to describe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths among first responders early in the COVID-19 pandemic. We used media reports to gather timely information about COVID-19-related deaths among first responders during March 30-April 30, 2020, and evaluated the sensitivity of media scanning compared with traditional surveillance. We abstracted information about demographic characteristics, occupation, underlying conditions, and exposure source. Twelve of 19 US public health jurisdictions with data on reported deaths provided verification, and 7 jurisdictions reported whether additional deaths had occurred; we calculated the sensitivity of media scanning among these 7 jurisdictions. We identified 97 COVID-19-related first-responder deaths during the study period through media and jurisdiction reports. Participating jurisdictions reported 5 deaths not reported by the media. Sixty-six decedents worked in law enforcement, and 31 decedents worked in fire/emergency medical services. Media reports rarely noted underlying c...
Source: Public Health Reports - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Public Health Rep Source Type: research