Pandemic exacted a steep toll on people with disabilities

Legally blind and alone, Katrina Byrd of Jackson, Mississippi, was reeling from her partner’s death from ALS when the pandemic sent her into isolation, cutting her off from the services and help she needed.

Shattering ordinary people’s mental health

Dillion Swindle of Oxford had just gotten his dream promotion and relocated to Louisiana when COVID-19 smacked the nation in 2020.

Did pandemic upend Louisiana’s progress in battling HIV?

For decades, Louisiana was one of the worst states for HIV transmission, and in 2015, healthcare leaders created a plan to try to end the epidemic.

News, Coronavirus Pandemic, Public HealthKatherine MitchellApril 29, 2022LSU Manship School News Service, Louisiana, HIV, Covid, AIDS, testing, PrEP, Crescent Care, New Orleans

Diabetes and COVID forge deadly ‘perfect storm’

Amid the worst pandemic in a century, Mississippi is leading the nation in increased diabetes deaths per capita, according to a just-released study.

News, Diabetes, coronavirus, Coronavirus Pandemic, Public HealthKatherine MitchellAugust 18, 2021Diabetes, diabetes deaths, covid, covid-19, coronavirus, UMMC, Mississippi diabetes deaths, delta variant, field hospital, hospital tents

On the frontlines of COVID fighting fears and misinformation

With COVID-19 cases climbing into the thousands from the Delta variant and deaths once again reaching double digits, the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting asked Dr. Dan Edney for his insights as chief medical officer for the state Department of Health and a clinician.

Coronavirus Pandemic, coronavirus, Public HealthKatherine MitchellJuly 29, 2021Coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, covid-19, health officials, Q&A, pandemic, Frontline workers, COVID, delta variant, Dr. Dan Edney, ICU, vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, MSHD, Mississippi State Department of Health

The History Of Influenza Pandemics By The Numbers

When you see the World Health Organization reporting that as of April 24, 2021, “there have been 145,216,414 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,079,390 deaths, reported to WHO,” it’s easy to think that the world has never seen anything like this. However, that assessment would be wrong.

News, Coronavirus Pandemic, coronavirusKatherine MitchellJune 4, 2021WHO, pandemic, influenza pandemic, covid-19, Spanish Flu, CDC, Asian Flu, 1957, Influenza pandemic, H1N1, swine flu

PPP Changes Open the Door for More Mississippi Businesses

The federal Paycheck Protection Program has provided life support to Mississippi rural hospitals facing bankruptcy and closure.

Mississippi News, News, Coronavirus PandemicKatherine MitchellMay 2, 2021PPP, Mississippi Business, Federal Paycheck Protection Program, Gulf Coast Fisherman, rural hospitals, SBA, Sole proprietors

Physical therapy ‘absolutely vital’ to some COVID patients, healthcare worker discovers

Tamika Love, a graduate of Jackson State University and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, is a doctor of physical therapy at Baptist Hospital in Tennessee.

Coronavirus Pandemic, coronavirusKatherine MitchellApril 12, 2021Coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, covid-19, health officials, Q&A, pandemic, PPE, Frontline workers, physical therapist

How will Mississippi ensure those battling mental illness are getting the COVID vaccine?

Vaccines for Mississippi’s health care workers? Check.
Vaccines for those hospitalized long term? Check.
Vaccines for the short-term mentally ill? Maybe.

Mississippi News, News, Coronavirus Pandemic, coronavirus, mental healthKatherine MitchellApril 2, 2021mentally ill, COVID vaccine, covid-19 vaccine, mental health facilities, mental health centers, homeless, vaccines, state department of mental health, Phaedra Cole

Mississippi’s overlooked COVID-19 threat: Families with many generations under one roof

Public Integrity analysis shows 19% live in multigenerational households in Mississippi, increasing vulnerability to the virus

Mississippi News, News, Coronavirus Pandemic, coronavirusKatherine MitchellMarch 26, 2021Joe Biden, Covid-19, covid vaccine, families with many generations, multigenerational household, Paege Fuller, Center for Public Integrity, people of color, elderly, coronavirus, Sang Ngyugen

Vaccine Skepticism in Black Community Rooted in History. ‘We have been used as guinea pigs and lab rats,’ Clarksdale pastor says.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, communities of color have been ravaged disproportionately by the virus. And as the world celebrates the distribution of vaccines, these same communities who need them most are shying away from the cure.

Mississippi News, News, coronavirus, Coronavirus PandemicKatherine MitchellFebruary 22, 2021coronavirus vaccine, covid vaccine, covid-19, black community, communities of color, BIPOC, racism, capitol riot, Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, Henrietta Lack, HeLa cells, James Marion Sims, enslaved Africans, BLM

Mississippi has already kissed $7B goodbye, thanks to its failure to expand Medicaid. Will the state make that $20B?

KOSCIUSKO — Dr. Tim Alford knew that Mississippians were struggling to get health care before he began working in the emergency room in this small town five years ago.

Mississippi News, News, coronavirus, Coronavirus Pandemic, Mississippi SpotlightKatherine MitchellFebruary 3, 2021COVID-1 9, covid, Mississippi Medicaid, federal money, expand coverage, medicaid expansion, pandemic, Republican, Tate Reeves, Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi Spotlight, Unsteady Pulse