What We’re Reading: Medical Residents Unionize; WHO Appeals to China on COVID-19 Information; Spanish Health Workers Protest

Medical Residents Unionize for Better Pay and Working Conditions

Medical residents at top teaching hospitals are joining unions to demand higher pay and better working conditions, according to The Wall Street Journal. Exhausted by the pandemic, residents says they are working longer shifts, are not being paid overtime, and are not equipped with protective COVID-19 gear. The Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), the largest group representing doctors and in residency and fellowship programs, said 2022 saw the addition of 5 additional chapters at teaching hospitals, and there were 2 added in 2021. Before the pandemic, it signed up about 1 chapter per year.

WHO Appeals to China to Release COVID-19 Information

The World Health Organization (WHO) is asking China to continue releasing COVID-19 information, after the country released its first official death toll Saturday, weeks after dopping restrictions to combat the disease. China said there had been nearly 60,00 deaths since early December, according to The Associated Press. WHO had accusing the Chinese government of failing to tell the world about the wave. The United States, South Korea, and other countries have imposed controls on visitors from China.

Tens of Thousands of Spanish Health Workers Protest for a Better Health System

About 30,000 health workers gathered in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday to protest what they believed to be “destruction by the conservative regional government,” according to Reuters. These protestors are accusing the Madrid regional government, led by the Popular Party’s Isabel Ayuso, of knocking down public health services in favor of private health providers. Ayuso denied these accusations, and said the protests and strikes were organized by left-wing parties trying to overturn the conservative regional government in the run-up to municipal and regional elections.