Updates
Renters Are Getting Evicted Despite 'CDC Eviction Ban' — 'I'm Scared'-NPR
Already one study has found that evictions may have caused thousands of additional deaths because of displaced families catching or spreading COVID-19. The Eviction Lab at Princeton University, which is following the issue in many cities and states, says it has tracked nearly 250,000 eviction filings since mid-March. The CDC order is preventing many of those people from losing their homes. But many others are being evicted regardless. NPR, … Continue Reading
February 11, 2021
‘Major Stones Unturned’: COVID Origin Search Must Continue After WHO Report, Say Scientists-Nature
Scientists say that the hunt for the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic must continue, after a World Health Organization (WHO) team’s visit to China produced no answers to key questions about how the coronavirus started infecting people. At a press briefing on 9 February in Wuhan, China, members of the WHO team reported conclusions from their month-long investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which was first reported as cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan in December 2019. The … Continue Reading
February 11, 2021
Vaccinated People Need Not Quarantine Post COVID-19 Exposure, CDC Says-Reuters
People who have received the full course of COVID-19 vaccines can skip the standard 14-day quarantine after exposure to someone with the infection as long as they remain asymptomatic, U.S. public health officials advised. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday the vaccines have been shown to prevent symptomatic COVID-19, thought to play a greater role in the transmission of the virus than asymptomatic disease. Reuters, … Continue Reading
February 11, 2021
'We Are Not A Humanitarian Agency': The Ford Foundation's COVID-19 Lens-Devex
From the production of a documentary film on the impact of COVID-19 in Nigeria to telling the stories of LGBTQ youth in the pandemic, the Ford Foundation is extending its expertise for addressing inequality into documenting the various ways in which people continue to be affected by the coronavirus. They are among many donors providing a financial response to COVID-19 that has seen trillions of dollars in funding announcements made globally. Devex, … Continue Reading
February 11, 2021
Covid-19 Vaccination Rates Follow The Money In States With The Biggest Wealth Gaps, Analysis Shows-STAT
The affluent town of Woodbridge, Conn., has less than half the population of neighboring Ansonia, and yet it’s home to more people who have received a Covid-19 vaccine. The inequity is stark: In Woodbridge, where residents have a median household income of $138,320 a year, 19.3% of the population had been vaccinated as of Feb. 4, according to Connecticut health department data. In Ansonia, where the median income is $45,563 a year, just 7.1% have received their first shot. Connecticut has the … Continue Reading
February 11, 2021
FDA Aims To Be 'Nimble' On COVID-19 Vaccine Changes For Variants-NPR
With two COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States and more on the way, things are starting to look up. But virus mutations being detected around the world mean the vaccines may one day need updates to ensure they stay effective. The Food and Drug Administration is already working on a playbook for how it could greenlight vaccine changes. The agency is aiming to be "nimble" when it comes to evaluating COVID-19 vaccine tweaks to make them effective against the coronavirus mutations, says … Continue Reading
February 10, 2021
CDC: Double-Masking Helps Reduce Exposure To The Coronavirus-Politico
Wearing a cloth mask over a medical procedure mask significantly helps reduce exposure to the coronavirus, according to a new CDC study. Researchers determined double-masking or wearing tightly fitted medical masks can reduce exposure to infectious aerosols by 95 percent — demonstrating that the better the masks fit, the better protection they provide. Medical procedure masks don’t always provide robust protection alone because air can leak around their edges, according to the study, which CDC … Continue Reading
February 10, 2021
Facebook Ramps Up Fight Against COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation-Devex
Facebook is expanding its efforts to fight misinformation on vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, the company announced that it will remove posts containing false claims about COVID-19 and all vaccines, including assertions that the coronavirus is man-made or manufactured, that it is safer to get the virus than the vaccine, or that vaccines cause autism. Devex, … Continue Reading
February 10, 2021
WHO's Wuhan Probe Ends, U.S.-China Bickering Over COVID Continues-Reuters
China called on the United States on Wednesday to invite the World Health Organization to investigate origins of the COVID-19 outbreak there, as sparring over the pandemic continued after the WHO wrapped up its field work in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Hours after the WHO team revealed preliminary findings at a Wuhan news conference on Tuesday, Washington said it wants to scrutinize data used by the team, which concluded that the virus causing COVID-19 did not originate in a laboratory in … Continue Reading
February 10, 2021
Covid-19 Cases Are Falling In The U.S. It Could Be A Calm Before A Variant-Driven Storm-STAT
While the numbers are going in the right direction, they are still at once unimaginably high levels. Even on the best days, more than 1,300 people die of Covid-19 in the U.S., and many more than that die on many days, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The country just logged fewer than 100,000 new confirmed infections in a single day for the first time since early November; some days in January had more than 200,000 cases. Experts fear the decline might just be temporary. A more … Continue Reading
February 10, 2021
COVID-19 Vaccines Could Add Fuel To Evolution Of Coronavirus Mutations-NPR
Mutations in the new coronavirus could reduce the effectiveness of vaccines against it. But vaccines themselves can also drive viral mutations, depending on exactly how the shots are deployed and how effective they are. So far, vaccines still appear to work against the new strains - though scientists are warily watching a variant that first appeared in South Africa since it seems to reduce vaccine effectiveness. And evolution isn't standing still, so scientists realize they may need to update … Continue Reading
February 09, 2021
Rapid Coronavirus Tests: A Guide For The Perplexed-Nature
As the number of UK coronavirus cases surged in early 2021, the government announced a potential game-changer in the fight against COVID-19: millions of cheap, rapid virus tests. On 10 January, it said it would roll these tests out across the country, to be taken by people even if they have no symptoms. Similar tests will play a crucial part in US President Joe Biden’s plans to tame the raging outbreak in the United States. These speedy tests, which typically mix nasal or throat swabs with … Continue Reading
February 09, 2021
Canada To Require Negative COVID Test At Land Border Feb 15-The Associated Press
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that starting next week any nonessential traveler arriving in Canada by land will need to show a negative PCR-based COVID-19 test or face a fine if they don’t have one. Trudeau said customs officers can’t send Canadians back to the U.S. if they don’t have a test because they are technically on Canadian soil but said the fine will be up to $3,000 Canadian (US$2,370) and the traveler will be subject to extensive follow up by health … Continue Reading
February 09, 2021
COVID May Have Taken 'Convoluted Path' To Wuhan, WHO Team Leader Says-Reuters
The head of a World Health Organization-led team probing the origins of COVID-19 said bats remain a likely source and that transmission of the virus via frozen food is a possibility that warrants further investigation, but he ruled out a lab leak. Peter Ben Embarek, who led the team of independent experts in its nearly month-long visit to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak first emerged at a seafood market in late 2019, said the team’s work had uncovered new information but had not … Continue Reading
February 09, 2021
With COVID-19 Blamed For Surge In Food Prices, Can Trade Facilitation Efforts Help?-Devex
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted agricultural output and supply chains globally, exacerbating food price increases at a time when economic contraction and rising unemployment have also hit family incomes in low- and middle-income countries. While this threatens to push the 2030 SDGs on food security further out of reach, trade facilitation efforts such as the African Continental Free Trade Area, or AfCFTA, could help. Devex, … Continue Reading
February 09, 2021
Teachers Knock On Doors Looking For Students Who've Disappeared From Online Learning-NPR
When Dirigo High School, in western Maine, moved to remote learning for a few weeks last fall, sophomore Mason Ducharme started falling behind. And without athletics, he lost any motivation to keep his grades up. "I just didn't do anything, I just sat in my room all day," he said. "And I didn't do any work. I didn't attend any classes." Many school districts across the country have reported big drop-offs in attendance as they've shifted to remote learning. Some students, like Ducharme, dropped … Continue Reading
February 08, 2021
Brazil’s Wealthy Cause A Stir Trying To Score Quick Vaccines-The Associated Press
Brazilian marketing executive Eduardo Menga is extra cautious when it comes to his health. During the pandemic, he consulted a slew of doctors to ensure he was in good shape and uprooted his family from Rio de Janeiro to a quiet city in the countryside where he works remotely. His wife Bianca Rinaldi, an actress, hasn’t worked since March. Menga and Rinaldi are among a minority of Brazilians who will pay for a COVID-19 vaccine if an association of private clinics can close a deal to bring 5 … Continue Reading
February 08, 2021
China Reports No New Local COVID-19 Infection For First Time In Nearly Two Months-Reuters
China reported no new locally transmitted mainland COVID-19 case for the first time in nearly two months, official data showed on Monday, adding to signs that it has managed to stamp out the latest wave of the disease. The total number of COVID-19 cases rose slightly to 14 on Feb. 7 from 12 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said in a statement, but all were imported infections from overseas. Seven of the cases were in Shanghai, the rest in the southeastern Guangdong province. … Continue Reading
February 08, 2021
GOP Rep. Ron Wright Dies After Covid Battle-Politico
GOP Rep. Ron Wright of Texas has died after a recent battle with coronavirus, his office announced Monday. Wright, 67, tested positive for Covid-19 last month and had been hospitalized in Dallas for the past two weeks. He also was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2018 and had been hospitalized last September for complications related to his cancer treatments. Politico, … Continue Reading
February 08, 2021
South Africa Halts Rollout Of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine After Shot Falters Against Variant-STAT
South Africa is halting its rollout of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, the country’s minister of health said Sunday, following a new analysis that suggests the shot “provides minimal protection” against mild disease caused by the new coronavirus variant circulating in South Africa. Two top virologists advising the government said during a press conference that the pause was necessary. STAT, … Continue Reading