Health Highlights: March 31, 2020

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Eilish, Carey, Other Stars Perform From Home in Coronavirus Benefit Concert

In an hour-long benefit concert to raise money for people affected by the coronavirus pandemic, musicians including Mariah Carey, Billie Eilish, Alicia Keys and Dave Grohl performed from their homes.

Elton John hosted and also sang on the special that was broadcast Sunday on Fox and iHeartMedia radio stations and also honored health care workers and first responders, the Associated Press reported.

John said he he hoped “this entertainment will feed and fuel your soul.”

Keys opened the event with her song “Underdog” from a piano in her home and thanked those “risking their lives to keep us safe.” Carey was one of the last performers and sang “Always Be My Baby” from her home studio in New York, the AP reported.

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U.S. Army Opens Field Hospital in New York City

The first U.S. Army field hospital for civilian patients opened in New York City Monday, and could be the first of many across the nation as it struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.

The field hospital at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan is meant to free hospitals in the city to boost their fight against the new coronavirus, CBS News reported.

Initially, the field hospital will have about 1,000 beds, expanding to 3,000 beds by next week. It could provide a template for the rest of the nation, according to Army chief of staff General James McConville.

“Army Corps of Engineers are in every single state. They are working with the state and local officials. They’ve done 181 assessments of preexisting facilities like this, so we can rapidly stand up hospitals and we’re working with FEMA, and FEMA’s the one who’s providing all this type of equipment,” McConville told CBS This Morning.

The potential facilities include arenas and hotels.

“The intent is to quickly turn them into some type of health care facilities to give the states options,” McConville told CBS This Morning. “To give them additional capacity in their states.”

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66 Coronavirus Cases in Maryland Nursing Home

Coronavirus has been confirmed in 66 residents of a Maryland nursing home, and 11 of them have been hospitalized, local officials said Sunday.

They said one resident died on Saturday night. He was a man in his 90s with underlying health problems, CBS News reported.

The cases at the 104-bed Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mount Airy increased Maryland’s total number of confirmed infections to more than 1,200 on the weekend. The nursing home is about 40 miles outside Washington, D.C.

“We never thought we would be in a position like this, with an incident of this magnitude,” Steve Wantz, Carroll County Board of Commissioners president, told CBS News. “But trust me when I say, we’re all in this.”

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Researchers Find Way to Clean N95 Masks for Re-Use

Duke University researchers have found a way to clean N95 respirator masks so they can be safely re-used.

Health care workers rely on the masks for protection while working with coronavirus patients, but there’s a shortage of the masks, CNN reported.

Researchers at the Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory found that vaporized hydrogen peroxide kills germs on the masks after they’re worn.

This method has long been used to decontaminate equipment, Wayne Thomann, director emeritus of the Duke Occupational & Environmental Safety Office, told CBS News.

The mask decontamination protocol was published by the researchers so that other hospitals can use it.

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