More than 900 students and staff in the Cherokee County School District were possibly exposed to the novel coronavirus after the district resumed in-person classes last week, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Georgia, Kentucky, and Rhode Island.
- Georgia: More than 900 students and staff in Georgia's Cherokee County School District are in quarantine after possibly being exposed to the novel coronavirus since the district resumed in-person classes last week. According to Brian Hightower, the school district's superintendent, the district also is temporarily closing Etowah High School, as more than 300 students and staff at the school have been instructed to quarantine because of possible exposure to the virus. Hightower said the district hopes to reopen the school on Aug. 31 (Associated Press, 8/11).
- Kentucky: Gov. Andy Beshear (D) on Monday recommended that schools in Kentucky wait until Sept. 28 to begin in-person classes, citing an increase in the number of new coronavirus cases in the states over the past five to six weeks. Beshear said Kentucky has "taken good steps" to address coronavirus outbreaks, but it does "not have control over this virus" (Coleman, The Hill, 8/10).
- Rhode Island: Edith Fuog, a Florida resident, has filed a class-action lawsuit against CVS Pharmacy and CVS Caremark, both owned by CVS Health, that argues the company has wrongfully refused to fill her prescriptions for an opioid medication she uses to manage pain from chronic conditions. The lawsuit claims that CVS' refusal to fill the medications violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Affordable Care Act. CVS did not respond to a request for comment on the litigation, Becker's Hospital Review reports (Adams, Becker's Hospital Review, 8/10).