Hollowed out public health system faces more cuts amid virus
The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and it lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century. An investigation by The Associated Press and KHN has found that since 2010, spending for state public health departments has dropped by 16% per capita and by 18% for local health departments. At least 38,000 public health jobs have disappeared, leaving a skeletal workforce for what was once viewed as one of the world’s top public health systems. It’s left the U.S. unprepared to deal with a virus that’s sickened at least 2.4 million people and killed more than 124,000.