Updates
How Bad Has The Pandemic Been For Childhood Vaccinations?-NPR
Every year Stephen Lim and his colleagues at the University of Washington compile and analyze health data from every country on the planet to come up with a sort of global report card. Year after year one of the biggest success stories has been the vaccination of children. Then the pandemic hit - grounding planes that transport vaccines, sidelining health workers who administer them, prompting parents to stop taking their children for checkups out of fear they'd get infected with coronavirus … Continue Reading
September 18, 2020
Israel Returns To Virus Lockdown As Cases Mount-The Associated Press
Israel went back into a full lockdown on Friday to try to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has steadily worsened for months as its government has been plagued by indecision and infighting. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading
September 18, 2020
Child Positive For Coronavirus Was Sent To School Anyway. Others Quarantining Now-NPR
Nearly 30 Massachusetts high school students have been told to quarantine after parents sent their child to school despite knowing that the teen was positive for the coronavirus. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 18, 2020
An Expert’s Take On What The U.S., U.K Did Wrong In Covid-19 Communications — And What Others Did Right-STAT
Some governments have been praised for being forthright about being science-driven in the way they've communicated about the Covid-19 pandemic. Other countries, most notably the U.S. and the U.K., have been hit with criticism for public health messages that are confusing or not based in science. STAT, … Continue Reading
September 18, 2020
Russia Approves First COVID-19 Prescription Drug For Sale In Pharmacies-Reuters
Russia has approved R-Pharm's Coronavir treatment for outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infections and the antiviral drug could be rolled out to pharmacies in the country as soon as next week, the company said on Friday. Reuters, … Continue Reading
September 18, 2020
Shortage Of Health Care Workers Plagues India’s Fight Against COVID-19-Devex
Radha Kumari is a nurse in India's eastern state of Bihar. Two months ago, along with 400 of her colleagues from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the state capital of Patna, she went on a strike demanding a salary hike and facilities that match permanent employees' perks - which have become a necessity during the pandemic, she said. Speaking to Devex using a pseudonym, as she feared retribution from her employers, Kumari said that contractual workers like her have long been … Continue Reading
September 17, 2020
Infection Rates Soar In College Towns As Students Return-The Associated Press
Just two weeks after students started returning to Ball State University last month, the surrounding county had become Indiana's coronavirus epicenter. Out of nearly 600 students tested for the virus, more than half have been positive. Dozens of infections have been blamed on off-campus parties, prompting university officials to admonish students. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading
September 17, 2020
Paying The Price: Pandemic Puts DRC’s Fragile Health System At Risk-Devex
The communities of North and South Kivu provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reluctantly become accustomed to uncertainty. A drawn-out Ebola epidemic coupled with conflict caused by warring armed groups already complicated the effective delivery of sexual and reproductive health services for women and young people. But COVID-19 further compounded the problems. Devex, … Continue Reading
September 17, 2020
India Is On Track To Surpass U.S. As The Country Worst Affected By COVID-19-NPR
With nearly 98,000 new coronavirus cases confirmed Thursday, India again broke the record for the highest daily tally of infections for any country since the pandemic began. It is on track, within weeks, to become the worst-affected country in the world. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 17, 2020
An ‘Uncoordinated’ Immune Response May Explain Why COVID-19 Strikes Some Hard, Particularly The Elderly-Science Magazine
Even a world-class orchestra will produce a cacophony if its strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion sections don't play in harmony. Similarly, the sophisticated human immune system can fail to beat back a pathogen if its many players don't hit the right notes at the right times. A new study now finds that people who suffer the most from COVID-19 have an immune response that's out of sync. Science Magazine, … Continue Reading
September 17, 2020
U.S. Plans For Hundreds Of Millions Of Cheap, Fast COVID-19 Tests-Reuters
U.S. manufacturers are sharply increasing production of cheap, fast - but less accurate - COVID-19 tests, aiming for 100 million per month by year end that will enable schools and workplaces to significantly expand testing. Reuters, … Continue Reading
September 16, 2020
Even The Coronavirus Can’t Kill The SAT And The ACT-The Atlantic
Over the summer, more than 400 colleges decided to stop requiring the SAT or the ACT for admissions, because the pandemic had made taking the tests (or even finding a location to take them) so difficult. Some institutions, such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, said their test-optional policy applied only to the high-school graduating class of 2021. Others, including Tufts University and the College of William & Mary, announced a three-year pause. A few jettisoned the tests permanently. The … Continue Reading
September 16, 2020
US Outlines Sweeping Plan To Provide Free COVID-19 Vaccines-The Associated Press
The federal government outlined a sweeping plan Wednesday to make vaccines for COVID-19 available for free to all Americans, even as polls show a strong undercurrent of skepticism rippling across the land. In a report to Congress and an accompanying "playbook" for states and localities, federal health agencies and the Defense Department sketched out complex plans for a vaccination campaign to begin gradually in January or possibly later this year, eventually ramping up to reach any American … Continue Reading
September 16, 2020
Lilly’s Covid-19 Antibody Helps Some Patients Rid Their Systems Of Virus Sooner In Early Analysis-STAT
A drug being developed by Eli Lilly helped sick patients rid their systems of the virus that causes Covid-19 sooner and may have prevented them from landing in the hospital, according to newly released data. The drug is what is known as a monoclonal antibody, which experts view as being among the most likely technologies to help treat Covid-19. It's a manufactured version of the antibodies that the body uses as part of its response to a virus. STAT, … Continue Reading
September 16, 2020
People Are Spending More On Furniture, Clothes, Restaurants And Bars-NPR
U.S. shoppers spent more prudently in August and retail sales grew a tepid 0.6%compared to July, as tens of millions of unemployed stopped receiving extra federal jobless benefits and families faced a confusing back-to-school season. Still, retail sales continued to grow, now for the fourth month in a row as people spent more at restaurants and bars and bought more furniture, electronics, cars and clothes. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 16, 2020
HHS Chief Overrode FDA Officials To Ease Testing Rules-Politico
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar led an escalating pressure campaign against his own Food and Drug Administration this spring and summer, urging the agency to abandon its responsibility for ensuring the safety and accuracy of a range of coronavirus tests as the pandemic raged. Then in late August, Azar took matters into his own hands. Politico, … Continue Reading
September 15, 2020
What Are The Different Types Of Coronavirus Tests?-The Associated Press
What are the different types of coronavirus tests? There are three broad categories of coronavirus tests in the U.S. Two diagnose whether you have an active infection, and a third indicates if you previously had the virus. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading
September 15, 2020
Bipartisan U.S. Lawmakers To Unveil $1.5 Trillion COVID-19 Aid Bill-Reuters
A group of 50 Democratic and Republican members of Congress are due to unveil a $1.5 trillion bipartisan coronavirus relief legislation on Tuesday, in an election year effort to break a month-long impasse in COVID-19 talks between the White House and top Democrats. Reuters, … Continue Reading
September 15, 2020
Some Urban Hospitals Face Closure Or Cutbacks As The Pandemic Adds To Fiscal Woes-NPR
Coronado was rushed to Mercy Hospital & Medical Center, the hospital nearest his home on Chicago's South Side. Doctors there pumped medicine into his veins to break up the clot that had traveled to his brain. Coronado may outlive the hospital that saved him. Founded 168 years ago as the city's first hospital, Mercy survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 but is succumbing to modern economics, which have underfinanced hospitals serving the poor. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 15, 2020
Researchers Highlight ‘Questionable’ Data In Russian Coronavirus Vaccine Trial Results-Nature
A group of researchers have expressed concern about repetitive patterns of data in a paper describing early-phase clinical trials of Russia's coronavirus vaccine - the first jab worldwide to be approved for widespread use. In an open letter to the study authors, who published the trial results this month in The Lancet, the researchers highlight values that seem to be duplicated, and warn that the paper presents its results only as box plots without providing a detailed breakdown of the data on … Continue Reading