US health departments experience workforce shortages and struggle to reach adequate staffing levels in public health

Gaps persist in hiring enough U.S. public health workers, and health departments continue to face challenges in recruiting new employees, according to a new study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Indiana University. Insufficient funding, a shortage of people with public health training, and a lack of visibility for public careers, in addition to lengthy hiring processes, are cited as barriers contributing to an absence of progress for achieving a satisfactory level of workers. The results are published in Health Affairs.

...

US COVID markers show small rise in activity Wastewater detections are up in the western region, which is also seeing a small rise in test positivity. CIDRAP

The main markers the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses to track COVID activity showed small rises Friday from very low levels, including wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections, which rose from the minimal to low level over the past week....

Vermont becomes 1st state to enact law requiring oil companies pay for damage from climate change Vermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather. AP News

...