When the Omicron subvariant of the Covid-19 virus came on the scene, it didn’t follow the pattern that scientists came to expect. In earlier surges, two or three weeks after cases spike, hospitalizations and deaths rose as well. With Omicron, both increased, but more...
COVID-19-Articles
CDC Eases Guidelines as FDA Indicates Multiple At-Home Tests Needed for Accuracy
Last Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed many of the recommendations surrounding the coronavirus. Officials made the changes after the lower fatality rate from Covid-19 has become the trend. The agency is shifting focus from slowing...
Some Experts Say Masks Don’t have Value at this Stage of the Pandemic as Fauci Indicates Those Not Up to Date on Vaccines Might have ‘Trouble’
From the beginning of the pandemic, there’s been a significant amount of discussion regarding the use of masks. While it was initially confusing, ultimately, many parts of the country had mandates requiring masks to be worn in certain circumstances. As cases,...
Evidence Indicates Coronavirus Came from Wuhan Market
Two recently published papers in the journal Science state that the coronavirus pandemic came from live animals sold and butchered in the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. The researchers found that there were at least two, but possibly up to two...
As BA.5 Surges, Experts Warn Paxlovid Isn’t for Everyone and Boosters on Hold
The BA.5 variant of Covid-19 is causing a surge in cases throughout the country. Hospitalizations have risen 20% in the past two weeks, with an average of 40,000 Americans in the hospital with coronavirus each day. Some of the hardest hit areas are states in the Great...
Novavax Coronavirus Vaccine Approved as Many Wonder if the Right Vaccine Will Be Available this Fall
Last Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a fourth coronavirus vaccine. The latest shot is from Novavax and follows the traditional protein-based vaccine technology. For individuals who prefer this type of vaccine option or have an allergy to the...
Covid-19 Variants Increase the Risk of Reinfection
The latest variant of the omicron mutation, BA.5, has become the dominant strain and is causing a wave of cases throughout the country. In the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a little over 100,000 new cases a day on average....
Pregnant Women Should Get Vaccinated as Omicron Vaccine Booster Announced
One thing that we’ve learned during the Covid-19 pandemic is that pregnant women are at higher risk for severe disease. Also, the chances of having negative outcomes for mother and baby—such as preeclampsia, preterm birth, and stillbirth—increase with infection....
Covid Vaccines for Youngest Children – Are They Getting to Where They Need to Be?
Last Tuesday, coronavirus vaccines became available for millions of children across the country. For parents who’ve been eager to protect their children, it marked the end of a long wait. However, a poll, the Kaiser Family Foundation Covid-19 Vaccine Monitor, released...
Vaccines for Youngsters are Here as WHO State Number of Deaths Related to Covid-19 On the Rise
On Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on the Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines for children under 5. The agency’s advisory panel was unanimous in its recommendation. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issued a statement following...
Covid’s Impact on Other Viruses as Travel Restrictions Ease and Vaccines Approval for the Youngest Children is On the Way
Experts say many familiar viruses, like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus, adenovirus, human metapneumovirus, influenza, and parainfluenza, are acting in unfamiliar ways. RSV and the flu are usually seen in the winter months, but cases are spiking now. The...
Cases Climb as Experts Warn that You Can Be Infectious Longer Than You Think
Just before Memorial Day weekend, the number of new Covid-19 infections was over 100,000 a day, five times higher than the same point last year. According to experts, immunity from the record winter outbreak, which infected a quarter of Americans, doesn’t provide...
New Research Sheds Some Light On Long Covid
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study last Tuesday that found one in five adults under 65 and one in four adults over 65 may develop long Covid. People in both groups had twice the risk of uninfected people of developing respiratory...
Kids 5 – 11 Approved to Get Booster as Case Numbers Rise
Last week, on May 17th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a booster shot for school-aged children. The approval is vital to making a third shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine available to children between 5 – 11 years old. Two days later, the Centers for...
U.S. Reaches Grim Milestone as Officials Warn of Another Surge
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States passed an inconceivable point in the Covid-19 pandemic this week—one million deaths. The news comes a little more than two years after the first death from the virus was recorded in...
FDA Limiting Use of J&J Vaccine Due to Blood Clot Risk
On May 5th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed new restrictions on the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The announcement comes as a result of the J&J vaccine being associated with a rare but potentially deadly blood clotting and bleeding...
Virus Mutations Continue as New Subvariants are Discovered
It’s been two and a half years since the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, first appeared in humans. During that time, it has mutated, creating variants and subvariants at a rate that has surprised scientists. And it shows no signs of slowing down. The main concern with...
Covid Deaths Rising in the Vaccinated
Throughout the pandemic, the unvaccinated have counted for most of the deaths. However, recent data indicates that is changing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released nationwide statistics showing vaccinated individuals made up 42% of the deaths...
Why is the Availability of Paxlovid Such a Big Deal?
Paxlovid is an antiviral medication made by Pfizer that decreases the chances of being hospitalized from Covid-19 by 90%. Merck also has an antiviral drug, Lagevrio, that is also effective at preventing hospitalizations from Covid. Clinical trials showed that Paxlovid...
To Mask, or Not to Mask?
Last week, in response to the rise in the BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended the mask mandate for flying commercially and other public transit, like buses, subways, and ferries, through at...
New Omicron Subvariant Highly Transmissible But No Surge Yet
For the past several weeks, the Omicron BA.2 variant has become the new dominant strain of Covid-19 in the U.S. However, it hasn’t caused a major surge in cases so far despite doing so in other parts of the world, such as Europe. Public health experts are hopeful that...
Will the Next Vaccine be a Nasal Spray?
The speed of the development of the coronavirus vaccines and their effectiveness in keeping people alive and out of the hospital is nothing short of remarkable. The vaccines even showed significant levels of protection against several variants of Covid-19. Then came...
Help for Individuals with Long Covid is On the Way
Millions of Americans suffering from long Covid could be receiving additional assistance soon. Yesterday, President Biden issued a memorandum directing government agencies to take further steps to research and treat the disorder, which is estimated to afflict...
Ivermectin Not Effective in Reducing Covid Hospitalizations
A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine presented the results of a large clinical trial involving 1,300 people infected with Covid-19 to see if ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, was able to lessen the disease. The study participants from...
Covid Vaccine for Young Children Safe, says Moderna, but is it Effective?
In a recent announcement from Moderna, they stated their Covid vaccine for children between 6 months to 5 years old is safe. Many parents and pediatricians have been impatiently waiting for a Covid vaccine for the five and under age group (about 19 million children in...
New Phase of Covid Plan, Shutdowns Aren’t Necessary
This week the White House announced a new plan to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. In his State of the Union address, President Biden stated the wide availability of vaccines and therapeutics has decreased the coronavirus threat to a more manageable level. The plan...
Do You Need Another Covid Booster?
As new variants of Covid-19 keep emerging, many people are left wondering if they need another vaccine booster. According to several recent studies, two or three vaccines are enough to protect most people from severe illness and death for a long time. During the...
AstraZeneca Vaccine Updated by Autumn as Biden Says Enough Vaccines for 300 Million People Will Be Available by July and WHO Indicates Early Infections Happened in China
Yesterday, AstraZeneca announced that they expect to have a new version of their COVID-19 vaccine ready by autumn. The adaptation will help to combat the current and emerging variants. The head of biopharmaceuticals research, Mene Pangalos, stated that the company...
Flu Shots on the Rise, Coronavirus Vaccine More Accepted and What Does “Percent Positive” Mean?
Several pharmacy groups, including Walmart, Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS Health, and Rite Aid, have reported that they’ve given millions more flu shots this year than in previous years. This is good news in the midst of the ever-growing pandemic. The flu is...
COVID-19, Nursing Homes, Children, and Thanksgiving
As the number of new cases is surging, the impacts of COVID-19 are really starting to be seen. One area that is taking a serious hit again is nursing homes. The nationwide totals for these facilities are the highest they’ve been since the beginning of August. In the...
Experts Say We Need Better Surveillance, but Urge Caution When Using Current Tracking Tools as Cases and Hospitalizations Surge
With COVID-19 daily cases and hospitalizations passing what they were in the spring, experts are concerned. The same worries about not having enough hospital beds, equipment, and staff to take care of all the sick people are back, especially with Thanksgiving being a...
Coronavirus Cases Top 10 Million, Psychological Impact of COVID-19 and Challenges for Antibody Infusions
On Monday, the United States surpassed its 10 millionth coronavirus case. The current surge in volume is concerning, especially when you consider there were one million new infections in the last 10 days. Record numbers of cases are being recorded in 28 states, with...
Biden’s Coronavirus Plan and Pfizer’s Vaccine
President-elect Joe Biden has recently released his plans for handling the coronavirus pandemic. One focus is to encourage state and local leaders to put in place mask mandates, if needed, and continuing to practice social distancing. Biden’s goal is to have the...
COVID-19 Vaccine Tracking App and Children Coronavirus Antibodies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a smartphone app, V-SAFE, that will help them keep track of several things once vaccines are being rolled out to the public. The goal is to monitor for any serious side effects, especially in high-risk...
US Coronavirus Cases Top 100,000 in One Day for First Time, New Restrictions in Some Places and Rapid Tests Not Effective for Those Without Symptoms
Today, the United States passed a grim milestone with having recorded 104,004 new cases of the coronavirus in a single day. This is the latest development in the surge that has started spiking in recent weeks. Seven states have set records for hospitalizations, with...
Show Down Between Trump and Top Public Health Officials as Cases Among Children
The rapport between President Trump and top public health officials has been contentious for months. One relationship in particular that has been fraught with tension is the one between the president and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of...
COVID-19 and Obesity, Opioid Addiction and Virtual Doctors Visits
With the pandemic raging, there’s research going on to find factors that might contribute to the severity of illness a person experiences. Several recent studies have found that individuals who have extra weight are more vulnerable. Two different studies highlight the...
Plans to Ship Millions of Rapid COVID-19 Tests as Vaccine Trial Placed on Hold
Today, President Trump declared a plan to dispense 150 million rapid coronavirus tests procured by the federal government to states, tribes, and other jurisdictions in the next few months. Experts were happy with this announcement because the country continues to...
Children Deaths Related to COVID-19 Remain Low as Study Finds Millions of Americans Still at Risk
While the overall death toll from COVID-19 is above 200,000, the number of children and teenagers that have died is around 100. According to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association, 18 states haven’t had a single fatality in...
Deaths Reach 200,000, Coronavirus is Mutating and FDA Going to Announce New Guidelines for Vaccine
America has reached a grim milestone—the number of people who’ve died from COVID-19 has officially topped 200,000. This means that since the first known death related to the disease on February 6th, over 858 people have been dying each day. To put it in perspective,...
Coronavirus Case Surge Expected as Experts Explain How to Get to Herd Immunity and CDC Contradicts Itself on Airborne Transmission
The number of deaths from COVID-19 is closing in on 200,000. Unfortunately, experts fear that figure could go much higher as they predict an influx in cases in the next several weeks. According to former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb,...
Testing Guidelines/Limitations, Hospitals Are Better Prepared for Fall Cases and Trump Tried to Censor Scientists
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reversed their guidelines on who should be tested for the coronavirus after experts, both inside and outside the agency, raised concerns about public confusion over testing and how it’s impacting the...
COVID-19 & the Brain, Vaccine Outlook, and a New Experimental Drug
Researchers at Yale University discovered that COVID-19 can infect the neurons in the brain. According to their data, the virus hijacks the machinery inside the neurons to make copies of itself. As it does this, it drains oxygen from nearby brain cells. The impact...
AstraZeneca Trial Resumes, Long-Term Complications Appearing and Restaurants Try to Reopen as Some Question the Validity of Fever Checks
The vaccine candidate being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca resumes after being paused for a week. The recommendation to restart came from an independent safety review committee and the United Kingdom health regulator. The study was halted after...
Preventative Care Drops, Young Adults at Risk and Experts Predicting Life Could Be Disrupted Through Next Year
When the pandemic first started, people stopped going to preventative care appointments. According to data from the Health Care Cost Institute, vaccinations decreased by almost 60% in April. The nonprofit company looks at millions of health insurance claims and found...
AstraZeneca Vaccine Trial Halted, Drug Companies Pledge to Follow the Science and the Aging Immune System vs COVID-19
The vaccine trial being conducted by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford was put on hold due to one of the participants experiencing an unexplained illness and the need to determine if it is related to the vaccine. The company called it a “routine action” to...
Flu Shot Importance, New Prediction Regarding Year-End Numbers, At-Home Testing Kits
It’s coming up on that time of year where you should start thinking about getting your flu shot. Given that COVID-19 is ever-present, receiving the flu shot this year is paramount. The reason is that every year thousands of people go to hospitals because they’re sick...
Scientists and WHO Say Convalescent Plasma Isn’t the Miracle Trump Claims
In a press conference this past Sunday, President Trump announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was authorizing the use of convalescent plasma on an emergency basis to treat COVID-19. In the same briefing, the FDA commissioner, Stephen Hahn, claimed that...
COVD-19 Racial Disparities Not Inescapable, Antibodies Might Not Be Important and Convalescent Plasma is the Latest Thing Trump is Promoting
One thing that has been clear since the beginning of the pandemic is that it disproportionately impacts people of color. A new study proposes that it doesn’t have to be this way. The study looked at 11,210 COVID-19 patients that sought care at one of the 92 Ascension...
White House May Be Promoting Oleandrin, Experts Recommending Flu Vaccine and Can Kids Really Socially Distance?
The CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, said that he was part of a meeting last month with President Trump. During the meeting, they discussed the possible benefits of using oleandrin as a treatment for COVID-19. In a recent press conference, the president said that he had...
Trump Adds Similar Minded Advisor to Task Force as Death Toll Rivals Fatality Rate of 1918 Flu and Clinical Trials are Taking Longer Than Expected
Early this week, President Trump appointed a new advisor, Dr. Scott Atlas, to the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force. Dr. Atlas is a radiologist, senior fellow at conservative Hoover Institution of Stanford University, and a commentator on Fox News. Before these...
New Type of COVID-19 Test Being Used in UK and Patients Trying New Breathing Technique While Researchers Hope Monoclonal Antibodies Will Help
Scientists at the Department of Health in the United Kingdom announced that they’re releasing new tests for COVID-19 that can provide results in under 90 minutes. Two separate tests are going to be used to identify the coronavirus and several other common viruses. The...
Birx Warns Virus is in a ‘New Phase’ and Fauci Backs Her While New Data Shows 42% of US Cases Occurred in July
Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, made a statement yesterday that the United States is entering a “new phase” of the pandemic. She said that it’s much more extensive than the outbreaks that occurred earlier this year in New...
Contact Tracing Isn’t Working as Scientists Say Children Carry High Levels of the Virus and We Don’t Know Yet the Full Impact on the Brain
One thing that we’ve heard about for a while is the importance of contact tracing. It’s usually a key element in public health as a means of reducing the spread of a pathogen. It’s been used for diseases like tuberculosis, yellow fever, and Ebola. Other countries...
Issues with MLB and COVID Leave Many Wondering How to Reopen. Also, A Look at The New Relief Package and How Young People are Infecting Family Members as Top Official Says Government Didn’t Recognize Threat from Europe Soon Enough
The big question on everyone’s mind is how to reopen? Major League Baseball (MLB) tried starting their season this week, but the number of players and support staff testing positive for COVID-19 exploded. This has led many to question that if pro sports teams and...
Promising Vaccine Enter New Phase of Trials, But How Long Will Protection Last as Officials Say It’s Taking Too Long to Get Testing Results and Are Looking for a Better Option
This morning, two large-scale clinical trials for vaccines against COVID-19 began. The first is from Moderna in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health. It has 30,000 participants throughout our country. Pfizer is conducting the other with 30,000 members...
Children and Coronavirus – So Much We Still Don’t Know
As we’re getting ever closer to the start of school, there is still so much that we don’t know about how the coronavirus impacts children. There has been much debate about the best way to handle the situation, but some new information from a study in South Korea might...
Trump Shifts on Masks and Indicates Virus Will Get Worse While Study Shows Americans are Still Lacking Widespread Immunity, CDC Updates Guidelines and Rate of Hospitalizations Almost to Level Seen in April
Yesterday, in a press conference, President Trump recognized that the coronavirus pandemic is becoming worse and would like to continue to do so. “It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better,” he said. He also endorsed the use of masks, which is a...
Some US Leaders Still Avoiding Mask Mandates as Trump Administration Tries to Prevent Funding for Testing and Tracing
Cases of COVID-19 are surging and this has prompted many areas to issue mask mandates. However, some leaders across the country are still refusing to make them mandatory in public places. This is worrisome since there is mounting evidence showing that they benefit...
Unpublished White House Report Indicates Stricter Rules are Needed as Mask Mandates Increase But Growing Wait Times for Test Results are Delaying Response and We’re Failing to Stop the Virus
In an unpublished report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, the officials recommend that at least the 18 hardest-hit states, such as California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas, should be putting into place tougher measures, like mask mandates, and...
Science Shows that Masks Definitely Offer Protection as Experts Urge Schools to Reopen and Hospitals Stock Up on Supplies for Second Wave While Moderna’s Vaccine Displays Promise
For a while now, we’ve been hearing that masks don’t really protect you, but protect others from getting the virus from you. However, there’s increasing evidence to indicate that they also protect you. The reason for this is that if you’re wearing a mask and are...
Patients Continue to Delay Routine Care as White House Tries to Undermine Fauci
Amid fears over catching COVID-19, many patients are continuing to delay going to hospitals and doctors for routine care. This has been ongoing since the beginning of the pandemic. Initially, the healthcare community was supportive of this in hopes of limiting the...
WHO Says Virus Can Be Airborne as US Death Toll Increases and the Effects on Pregnant Women Still Unknown
As of yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized that COVID-19 can linger in the air of crowded indoor spaces. This announcement came after increasing evidence demonstrated that the virus is able to float in the air inside for hours, which caused over...
New Tests on the Horizon as EPA Approves Disinfectants Designed to Treat COVID-19
All around the world, scientists are trying to develop a test for COVID-19 that would give a result in less than an hour and wouldn’t need burdensome equipment or highly trained staff to operate it. The new tests would be able to be done in doctor’s offices, or even...
Trump’s Claims of Coronavirus Being ‘Totally Harmless’ is False as Experts State It Is Airborne and to Expect an Increase in Number of Deaths
In an interview over the weekend, President Trump stated that “99%” of COVID-19 cases are “totally harmless.” This comment comes as over 130,000 Americans have succumb to the virus and at least 2.8 million have been infected with the number of cases starting to surge...
Republicans Urge Wearing Masks as Task Force Talks ‘Pooled Testing’ and Experts Say Deaths From Condition Other Than COVID-19 is Significantly Higher
COVID-19 is starting to heavily impact areas that weren’t hard hit before. Many of these spaces are communities and states that are represented by Republican leaders. All of a sudden, these leaders are now recommending that their constituents wear masks, which is a...
EU Isn’t Allowing Americans to Visit as We Fight Over Wearing Masks and Experts Warn Herd Immunity Won’t Happen if Americans Refuse to Get Vaccinated
The European Union (EU) announced yesterday that it’s reopening its borders to individuals from 14 countries (Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay), but America was not...
Coronavirus Mutates as the CDC Says Number of Infections is Undercounted and Updates the List of Who is Most Likely to Be Infected and American Airlines No Longer Practicing Social Distancing on Flights
A mutation in the novel coronavirus is appearing in about 95% of all the genomes sequenced by infectious-disease specialists at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. The idea of a mutating virus isn’t new, in fact, it’s quite...
Fauci States Trump Didn’t Request Testing to Be Slowed as Experts Examine Who Should Receive Dexamethasone
There has been rumors that testing was going to slow down a result of a comment made by President Trump at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, in a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee early this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National...
Claim that Increase in COVID-19 Cases is Due to More Testing Isn’t True as State and City Leaders Respond to Surge in Cases with New Rules and Warnings
For the past several days, President Trump has been saying the reason that we’re seeing increases in the number of COVID-19 cases is the result of more Americans being tested. This might have been true back in April back before the country was really started to...
Federal Review Confirms CDC Test Kits Were Contaminated and Experts Warn to Soon to Talk About a Second Wave
A three-page federal review conducted by two lawyers at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that the first testing kits issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) failed as a result of “likely” contamination because scientists...
Antibodies Might Not Last Long and Cruises are Canceled Until September
A new study recently published in Nature Medicine found that antibodies to COVID-19 may only last two to three months in the human body. Antibodies are protective proteins that the body makes in response to being exposed to an infection. This timeframe is especially...
A Steroid May Work Against COVID-19 as the FDA Pulls Approval for Hydroxychloroquine
Scientists at the University of Oxford are hopeful that a commonly available and low-cost steroid, dexamethasone, can reduce the chances of death in patient with a severe infection of COVID-19. According to their research, they say that the drug decreased deaths of...
U.S. Isn’t Ready for Contact Tracing as Study Finds 1 in 5 People at Risk for Severe Infection from COVID-19
Contact tracing is when individuals who have had interaction with an infected person are notified and asked to self-isolate. This is an essential instrument in keeping the highly infectious COVID-19 from spreading further. As states are starting to reopen, you would...
WHO Struggles With Communication as CDC Recommends Wearing Masks in Large Crowds and Scientists Look at Drugs that Can Stop the ‘Cytokine Storm’ Caused by the Virus
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has had issues communications to the public with information about COVID-19. Unfortunately, there have been several times that they’ve had to recant what they said. This has led to significant...
Hospitalizations Rise Sharply After Memorial Day and Fauci Warns Pandemic Isn’t Close to Being Over
The latest data is showing that there’s an increase in the number of cases with more hospitalizations since Memorial Day. In over a dozen states and Puerto Rico, they’re recording their highest averages of new cases since the pandemic started. In nine states, Texas,...
Study Finds Shutdowns Prevented 60 Million COVID-19 Infections as Some Experts Now Say Anti-Racism Protests Are Fine
A study that was published today in Nature looked at the effect stay-at-home order and other restrictions had in reducing the spread of COVID-19. It found that they prevented 60 million infections in the United States and 285 million in China. A different study...
Early Overuse of Antibiotics and COVID-19 Studies Retracted
In the beginning of the pandemic, despite individuals presenting with the classic symptoms of COVID-19, many doctors used broad-spectrum antibiotics as a treatment even though they knew that they aren’t effective at treating viruses. Part of the reason they did this...
COVID-19’s Impacts on Nursing Home and a Review of Safety Measures
According to a federal government report, 60,000 nursing home residents have been infected with COVID-19 and over 25,000 have died so far. In addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said that the virus has infected 34,000 nursing home staff...
Trump Says U.S. Going to Leave W.H.O. While Testing Isn’t the Only Way to Defeat COVID-19
Today, President Trump gave a 10-minute address from the Rose Garden. During the speech, he didn’t take any responsibility for the loss of American lives, but said China had “instigated a global pandemic.” He went on to say, “The world is now suffering as a result of...
Disney Announces Plans to Reopen Theme Parks as Politicians Call for Pandemic Response to Not be Political
The Walt Disney Company has issued a statement that they plan to start reopening their theme parks in Orlando, Florida. The plan has several phases with Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom being open on July 11th and Epcot and Hollywood Studios opening on July 15th. The...
Asymptomatic Transmission is More Common Than You Think
Per a new paper published in the journal Thorax, the COVID-19 outbreak on one cruise ship showed that over 80% of the individuals who tested positive didn’t have any symptoms. This means that asymptomatic transmission had been occurring. It has been difficult to know...
White House Officials Question if Coronavirus Numbers are Real as Prototype Vaccine Found to Protect Monkeys From the Virus
There is speculation among President Trump and top White House officials that the number of deaths related to COVID-19 aren’t real. The information that has been supplied by state health departments and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) include...
Trump Tours Mask Distribution Center While Not Wearing a Mask and is Open to More Stimulus Dollars, Just Not the Democrats’ Plan
Today, the President toured the Owens & Minor Inc distribution center in Pennsylvania. According to White House officials, this center has produced millions of N95 masks, surgical gowns and gloves. All of these have been sent to hospitals and surgery centers...
Trump Not Happy with Fauci’s Comments as W.H.O. Says Virus May Be Here to Stay and Normal Speech May Spread It, According to Scientists
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was speaking to senators this past Tuesday and issued a warning in regards to reopening schools and the economy too quickly. He said that it could be dangerous and ending...
House Democrats Unveil a New Coronavirus Bill to the Tune of $3 Trillion, It Was Rejected by Senate Republicans
Today, House Democrats put forth a coronavirus relief package that would provide financial aid to states, businesses and families in the amount of $3 trillion. Of this, $1 trillion would be designated for state and local governments. In addition, $75 billion would be...
President Trump Says COVID-19 is ‘Well Contained’ Among WH Staff Before Abruptly Leaving Press Conference as Study Indicates that an Enzyme Makes Men More Vulnerable to the Virus
In a press conference today, President Trump addressed questions from reporters regarding the fact that three of the top officials of the Coronavirus response have decided to self-quarantine after coming into contact with a member of Vice-President Pence’s staff that...
Scientists Dispute Claim COVID-19 Mutation Made It More Contagious as White House Coronavirus Task Force Will Be Phased Out and Cases Spike in India After Restrictions are Loosened
In the past few days, there was a study released, that hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet, but claims that a mutation of COVID-19 created a new strain that seems to be more contagious and, possibly, more deadly. This mutation first appeared in Europe in February and...
A Mutated More Contagious COVID-19 Strain Now Dominant; Cases Across the U.S. Continue to Rise
A new study was released by scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, who were assisted in their research by scientists at Duke University and the University of Sheffield in England, has found a new strain of COVID-19. The team analyzed over 6,000 coronavirus...
World Leaders, Except U.S., Join to Find a Vaccine as F.D.A. Cracks Down on Antibodies Testing and Models Predict a Significant Jump in Deaths from States Reopening
On a fund-raising conference call organized by the European Union (EU) today that include leaders from around the world over $8 billion was raised to help fund research for developing a vaccine for COVID-19. The call lasted over three hours and countries provided...
A.I. is Guiding Doctors to Possible Treatment While Concerns for Black Residents Rise in Georgia
A London-based research company, BenevolentAI, started looking at possible ways to treat the COVID-19 back in late January. They were using technologies to scan scientific literature about the virus. For the past several years, the company has been building technology...
Experts Warn Technology Will Not Save Us Despite New Drug Showing Shortened Recovery After Trial
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to authorize emergency use for an antiviral drug, remdesivir, in treating patients infected with COVID-19. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease...
Coronavirus in Tiny Airborne Droplets in Wuhan as China Pushes Back on Calls for Compensation from Them
Scientists in Wuhan, China, where the COVID-19 outbreak began, have been continuing to study the novel virus. Recently, they’ve found the genetic markers for the virus in airborne droplets that are smaller than one-ten-thousandths of inch in diameter, which are called...
New Symptoms are Added to the List as Scientists Look to Unique Treatment Options for Men
COVID-19 has thrown a curve ball at scientists when it comes to what symptoms people who have the disease actually are experiencing. Just today, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated the list of potential symptoms on their website. Prior to the...
Since Most People Who Carry COVID-19 Don’t Know It, Will Antibody Testing Help Determine Next Steps?
There have been several recent studies done throughout the country that point to the fact the majority of people who have been infected with COVID-19 have not had symptoms. For example, on the aircraft carrier the Theodore Roosevelt, there have been 840 cases and, of...
Governors Trying Find a Way to Reopen States Without Adequate Testing as Trump Implies the Daily Briefings Aren’t Worth His Time
With all the delays in getting testing results, there is definitely not a clear picture as to what the actual infection rate is throughout the country, many governors are trying to find ways to reopen their states. The lack of information available to them as they try...
Georgia Going to Reopen as FDA has Warnings About Anti-Malaria Drug and Dr. Birx Corrects Trump
Earlier this week, the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp (R), issued a statement that today certain businesses, such as barbershops, nail salons, gyms, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors, would be allowed to be reopen. In addition, starting Monday, dine-in service would...
You’re Sick, and Not with COVID-19, How do You Get Treatment?
It doesn’t matter what news source you watch, you’ve probably heard about the shortage of supplies. These shortages include not just beds, ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE), but doctors, nurses and other healthcare personnel. The issue with these...
Singapore had COVID-19, but then Cases Doubled
When it comes to dealing with COVID-19, Singapore seemed to have it under control. They had their first case on January 23rd and within a very short time, had traced the contacts of all of the infected individuals (they can trace up to 4,000 contacts of patients each...
As a Deal for More Aid to Small Businesses is Closer to Being a Reality, Trump Says He’ll Increase Swab Production After Facing Criticism
The congressional Democrats and the White House maybe close to an agreement for an additional relief package. This one would be targeted toward replenishing the emergency fund for small businesses, also known as the Paycheck Protection Program, which ran out of the...
Officials Say Testing was Delayed Due to CDC Labs Being Contaminated and Needs to be Tripled Before the US Can Reopen
It has been widely talked about for several weeks. The first test kits for COVID-19 that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) laboratories in Atlanta developed were ineffective. These tests were sent to almost all of the 100 state and local public...
Number of COVID-19 Cases Passes 2 Million Globally as Many Wonder How Governments are Able to Find Money to Provide Assistance
As of today, the number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed more than 2 million people worldwide. The number of deaths is over 130,000. The numbers doubled in about 13 days and are growing continually. Many public health officials fear that the numbers are actually much...
Trump Disregards Advice to Tighten Clean Air Rules as the Number of Deaths in Britain Potentially 10% Higher Than Official Number
There has been an emerging link between air pollution and deaths from COVID-19. Harvard researchers recently released a study that looked at the link between long-term air pollution exposure and deaths as the result of the virus. They found that if a person lives for...
National Trade Adviser Warns Prolonged Shutdown Could Pose a More Dire Long-Term Health Threat as Trump Says He Has ‘Total’ Authority to Surpass Governors
The White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro, is charged with coordinating the country’s medical supply chain. He issued a warning today that a prolonged shutdown of nonessential commerce may result in a wide range of negative health effects. He further states that...
As Trump Criticizes Fauci, Chloroquine Study Halted Due to Increase in Fatal Heart Rhythms and Poor Americans Struggle with ‘Shelter in Place’
Over the weekend, President Trump signaled his frustration with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and a lead member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. This comes after Dr. Fauci said in an...
Scientists Find that NY COVID-19 Cases are from Europe as Number of Deaths Continue to Climb, but Surge at Hospitals Hasn’t Happened Yet
Research is pointing to data that shows that COVID-19 was in the New York area by mid-February. This was weeks before there was a confirmed case. According to geneticists, the origin of the strain of the virus in New York is from Europe, not Asia. Two independent...
As Vaccines and Treatments Get Closer to Human Trials, Will Antibody Tests Help to Gradually Reopen the Country?
Currently, there aren’t any treatment options specific to COVID-19. This has led to many scientists and doctors to try new and innovative therapies. It has also caused several potential therapies to be purported as a treatment without enough information to support...
Trump Blames the WHO for Lack of Response to COVID-19
The latest target of attack for President Trump’s blame regarding response to COVID-19 is the World Health Organization (WHO). In a press conference yesterday, he said that failures and mistakes by the organization resulted in the virus spreading the way it has. Due...
COVID-19 Killing More Men Than Women and Adults Over Children
New York City has become the center of the battle against COVID-19 here in the United States. While it’s infecting all people across the state, new numbers show that it’s hitting men harder and killing them at twice the rate. Per the city’s health department, there...
US Death Toll Undercounted as Black Americans are Infected at Alarming Rates
As of this past weekend, over 9,400 people across the country have been reported as succumbing to the virus. However, experts say that the true number of COVID-19 cases and deaths aren’t known and most likely much higher than the reported numbers. They express that...
Hydroxychloroquine Isn’t a Proven Treatment for COVID-19, Despite What Trump Says
For the past few weeks, President Trump has been on the news touting a possible treatment for COVID-19—hydroxychloroquine. The medication is normally used to treat malaria or autoimmune disorders, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. The later is why some think that...
As Death Toll Explodes in New York, Germany’s Remains Low
New York is the epicenter of our nation’s battle against COVID-19. Unfortunately, they’ve reported their highest number of deaths (562) in a single day. This brought the total number deaths in New York to 3,000, which is double what it was just three days ago. During...
Antibodies Test Approved; Along with Stem Cell Therapy for COVID-19 Patients
As of yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new test for antibodies of the COVID-19. This is different from the current testing that is being done, which is designed to tell if a person has an active infection. These tests use a nose or throat...
How to Spot Fake Information on COVID-19
There’s no question that with information about COVID-19 is changing rapidly and constantly. Many people are trying to stay informed and keep their loved ones informed too. So, information, whether or not it is true, is being spreading like wildfire as people are...
Do travel bans work?
A travel ban means that individuals from a certain area aren’t allowed to enter or leave an area. In the case of the travel bans put into place by the Trump administration, this means that individuals coming from various parts of the world are not permitted to enter...
How is the Virus Spread? How Long Does it Live on Surfaces?
Article updated with latest information on 04/13/2020. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), COVID-19 is spread from person to person mainly through respiratory droplets that are expelled into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These...
What does ‘Flatten the Curve’ mean? Why is it Important?
All over the news there is discussions going on about trying to ‘flatten the curve’. There’s usually a graph that accompanies this as well (see image). For many, it’s confusing, so let’s break it down. The red area shows how the number of cases increase dramatically...
What are the EPA Approved Disinfectants?
Many people have been wondering how to clean surfaces in their home. According to health officials, this is just as critical as washing your hands. This has led individuals to try to figure out what products to use that will get rid of COVID-19. In response to these...
Who are the Members of the White House Task Force that You See on TV?
If you’ve been following the White House Task Force press conferences, you’ve been seeing several different faces talking at the podium. If you’re like most people, you probably don’t recognize anyone other than President Trump and Vice-President Pence. Who are these...
What is Difference Between Social Distancing, Self-Quarantining and Isolation?
There has been significant amount of talk surrounding social distancing. This has led to confusion around what it is. Sometimes, it’s been used interchangeably with self-quarantine, but are they really the same thing? Social distancing, or physical distancing, is...
Cruise Ship Passengers Evacuated in Japan as Epidemic is Continuing to Grow Globally, but Spread in China Slows
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases found on the ship, the Diamond Princess, had grown to 355 in total and 55 of those being American citizens. Of the 3,700 passengers there are 400 American passengers on board. Some were evacuated this past Monday. Initially,...
First Death in Europe as Chinese Officials Change How They’re Counting Cases.
A Chinese tourist died in France yesterday marking the first death related to COVID-19 in Europe and the first outside of Asia. The tourist was an 80-year-old man from the Hubei province of China. He was traveling with his daughter, who also tested positive and is...
Will China’s Economy Hold?
As infections and fatalities are swelling, the world’s second-largest economy is almost at a standstill. Given the restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the virus many urban manufacturing and financial centers are on at least partial lockdowns, migrant...
Do Infrared Thermometers Really Work?
If you’ve been watching the news, you’ve probably seen health officials using an infrared thermometer to check individuals’ temperatures before they’re allowed to go into grocery stores or other public buildings. It seems like an easy enough way to see if someone has...
According to the CDC, the Test Kits They Sent Out Last Week Are Flawed.
Just one week ago, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) starting shipping out test kits to select qualified US and international laboratories. The kits are designed for use with an existing testing instrument that is commonly used to test for seasonal influenza. The...
The WHO Selects a Name for the New Coronavirus – COVID-19. China’s deaths are over 1000. Pakistan Refuses to Let Citizens Come Home. The US is Worried About Economic Impacts.
Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) have chosen a name for the new coronavirus. It’s now called COVID-19. It’s an acronym for coronavirus disease 2019. The goal was to find a name that didn’t give any reference to people, places or animals to avoid any...
As China’s Death Toll Passes that of SARS, the First American Dies from the New Coronavirus. So Does the Chinese Doctor Who Sounded the Alarm.
According the numbers released early today, the death toll in China is 811, which is past the number of individuals who died in the 2003 SARS epidemic, which killed 774 people worldwide. There are 37,198 confirmed cases in China, but many doctors believe the number is...
Do Face Masks Help Protect You from the Coronavirus?
Whenever there is video footage or images of people walking around a city during an outbreak of an illness, they all seem to be wearing face masks. This has led to many people buying face masks in mass quantities. This begs the question: Do they really protect you?...
New Coronavirus Might Be Spread Without Symptoms, But Children Maybe Less Likely to Be Severely Impacted.
There has been some concern from doctors in China that the new coronavirus might be spread by individuals that don’t exhibit any symptoms of the illness. A recent letter that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on January 30th appears to back these...
First Death Outside China. Cruise Ship Passengers Quarantined. New Coronavirus’ Impact Continues to Spread.
As of Sunday, the first death outside of China has occurred in the Philippines. It was a 44-year-old man who was resident of Wuhan and had arrived in the Philippines on January 21st. As it stands now, the number of deaths is over 360 with the majority of them...
COVID-19 Symptoms
Article updated with latest information on 07/09/2020. One of the challenging aspects of COVID-19 is that some of the symptoms associated with it are similar to that of the common cold, allergies or the flu. The other issue is that the virus is still so new that all...
New Coronavirus Now a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, According to WHO
As of yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). It was only a week ago that WHO had decided to hold off on making this declaration. The reason they...
Handwashing. Here’s How To Do It Properly.
One of the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is by using proper handwashing techniques. Unfortunately, many of us don’t know the best way to do this. Let’s take a closer look at the steps: 1. Turn on the water and get your hands wet. This helps you to spread...
Coronavirus is Spreading and China’s Deaths Reach 100
The number of deaths in China reached 100 today. The estimated number of cases is to be just under 3,000. As a result of the increasing amount of cases, Chinese officials placed Wuhan and some surround areas on partial lockdown as of last Thursday. Officials also...
The New Virus is Here
A man who lives in Washington state was the first American to be diagnosed with the new coronavirus. He recently returned from visiting Wuhan, China and once back in the United States, started to have symptoms associated with the novel virus. He has been taken to the...
The New Virus Is Spreading
While in China the new coronavirus has claimed another life, it’s also on move and has made it to Thailand and Japan. As of this past Monday, Thai officials announced that there are two confirmed cases. Japan only has one case so far. In talking to the first patient...
New Virus Emerging in China
As of three days ago, Chinese officials have reported that there is a new virus found in the city of Wuhan that first appeared in late December. The virus is causing pneumonia-like symptoms, such as fever, difficulty breathing and lung lesions. So far, it has infected...