Here are takes from the Boston Globe’s StatNews and Fierce Healthcare on today’s Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) discussion of a U.S. response plan to the COVID-19 disease if worse comes to worse. The StatNews article goes on to state

“Our efforts at containment so far have worked,” said Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s principal deputy director. At the same time, Schuchat said, “we don’t want to delay thinking about these other possibilities.”

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the government is committed to “radical transparency” in keeping the public informed about its response and preparedness planning. [Dr. Nancy] Messonnier, he said, was “just previewing for the American people” the strategies that health officials have in their toolbox as additional cases appear.

The CDC also today released their National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020.

More people are developing type 1 and type 2 diabetes during youth, and racial and ethnic minorities continue to develop type 2 diabetes at higher rates. Likewise, the proportion of older people in our nation is increasing, and older people are more likely to have a chronic disease like diabetes. By addressing diabetes, many other related health problems can be prevented or delayed.

In this regard, Drug Topics reports that

Patient access to portal self-management tools through mobile devices may help significantly improve diabetes care, according to a new study [published in JAMA Network Open].

Patient portals work to enhance communication with the health care team and offer a convenient means to viewing laboratory test results and ordering prescription refills. In chronic conditions such as diabetes, ongoing disease self-management is crucial for optimal patient outcomes, and technology can help further support this.

That’s encouraging.