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College residence hall advisers demand hazard pay | Coronavirus Newsletter

Plus, Pa. cancels on volunteer coronavirus contact tracers

The University of Pennsylvania campus ( MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer )
The University of Pennsylvania campus ( MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer )Read more

TL;DR: University of Pennsylvania resident and graduate advisers are demanding safer working conditions, hazard pay, and updated protocols for what to do when they’re required to break up parties or intervene during a medical emergency. The Pennsylvania Health Department last week canceled a training session for volunteers to trace the contacts of people infected with the coronavirus, saying “August is usually a month filled with families taking time for a vacation.” The next day it announced a $23 million plan to hire 1,000 contact tracers.

— Ellie Silverman (@esilverman11, health@inquirer.com)

What you need to know:

📚 Visa restrictions are stopping international students from returning to campus. Local colleges are coming up with solutions.

🏥 Another COVID inequity: Low-income and rural communities lack access to ICU beds, a Penn study found. Another study found that cancer diagnoses are down during the pandemic.

🏀 Philadelphia Catholic League football and other fall sports are pushed back. Meanwhile, no NBA players tested positive for COVID-19 in the Disney bubble for third-straight week.

🤝 Convention centers drive urban economies. Will we ever meet there again?

🖼️ The Philadelphia Museum of Art slashed staff as the pandemic takes its toll.

📰 What’s going on in your county? We organized recent coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by local counties mentioned in the stories to make it easier for you to find the info you care about.

Local coronavirus cases

📈The coronavirus has swept across the Philadelphia region and cases continue to mount. The Inquirer and Spotlight PA are compiling geographic data on tests conducted, cases confirmed, and deaths caused by the virus. Track the spread here.

Penn students who work in residence halls demand hazard pay, safer conditions

University of Pennsylvania resident and graduate advisers published a Change.org petition demanding safer working conditions, hazard pay, and updated protocols for what to do when they’re required to break up parties or intervene during a medical emergency. Read more here.

Pa. cancels on volunteer coronavirus contact tracers, moves to hire 1,000 paid staff

The Pennsylvania Health Department last week canceled a training session for volunteers to trace the contacts of people infected with the coronavirus, saying, “August is usually a month filled with families taking time for a vacation.” Then, the next day, it announced a $23 million plan to hire 1,000 contact tracers. Read more here.

Helpful resources

  1. Want to plan a vacation? Here’s what the experts say on how to travel safely. And if you do want to travel, here are 10 offbeat day trip destinations near Philly.

  2. What are the first symptoms of the coronavirus?

  3. How to hire a babysitter during the pandemic.

  4. Here are 8 principles of social distancing to help figure out what you can and can’t do.

  5. Not sure what a medical term means? We have definitions for you.

  6. Have another question? Our reporters have tracked down answers.

You got this: Go on a date

Are you trying to date someone new during the pandemic? If so, my colleague Grace Dickinson put together a list of fun ideas to try while staying safe. Read more here.

🍽️ Can Philly’s beloved diners survive the pandemic?

💰 The Pennsylvania 30 Day Fund helps small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.

🍅 This Pennsylvania farm has 320 kinds of tomatoes. You’ll want to try them all.

Have a social distancing tip or question to share? Let us know at health@inquirer.com and your input might be featured in a future edition of this newsletter.

What we’re paying attention to

  1. As many people turn to telemedicine, STAT reports that experts warn many people face barriers to virtual care.

  2. Dirty water is even more dangerous during the pandemic, especially as more Texans, and fecal bacteria, head to the beach, the Houston Chronicle writes.

  3. Healthcare workers are risking their lives to care for the sick during the pandemic. But nobody tracks how many of them have also died from COVID-19, ProPublica reports. So one anesthesiologist stays up all night counting the dead.

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