< BACK TO COVID-19

COVID-19 News from Around the Web

Coronavirus study finds air on planes is safer than homes or operating rooms
USA Today - October 16, 2020
A new study conducted for the Department of Defense adds credence to the growing belief that airline passengers face minimal risk of contracting coronavirus when flying. The study found the risk of aerosol dispersion – transmission of the virus through the air – was reduced 99.7% thanks to high air exchange rates, HEPA-filtered recirculation and downward ventilation found on modern jets.
Health experts’ Thanksgiving advice in the time of Covid: plan, plan, plan
STAT - October 16, 2020
Anthony Fauci refuses to be cast in the role of the Grinch who stole Thanksgiving. … “I think people are going to have to evaluate the level of risk that they want to take, particularly in families in which you have grandpa and grandma and elderly individuals who are going to be vulnerable,” he told STAT during an interview earlier this week. “I’m not making any recommendation about what people should or should not do. The only thing I’m saying, it’s not going to be an easy decision.”
Global rise in chronic diseases combined with Covid-19 bodes ill for world health
CNN - October 16, 2020
Many countries are not doing enough to decrease the common risk factors associated with chronic diseases, leaving populations vulnerable to health emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic -- that's one of the main messages emerging from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study. Those risk factors include obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, as well as air pollution, alcohol use and drug use, the team at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, which conducts the study, found.
No, the WHO Didn’t Change Its Lockdown Stance or ‘Admit’ Trump Was Right
Kaiser Health News - October 16, 2020
On Monday, President Donald Trump claimed that the World Health Organization (WHO) “admitted” he was correct that using lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19 was more damaging than the illness. … But did the WHO change its stance on lockdowns or concede anything to Trump, as he said it did? Briefly, no.
Community outbreaks of Covid-19 often emerge after Trump’s campaign rallies
STAT - October 16, 2020
We looked at case numbers for the 14 days before and after each event to see if any patterns of community outbreaks emerged. … What we found was sobering yet not surprising. Spikes in Covid-19 cases occurred in seven of the 14 cities and townships where these rallies were held: Tulsa; Phoenix; Old Forge, Penn.; Bemidji, Minn.; Mankato, Minn.; Oshkosh, Wis.; and Weston, Wis.
Kamala Harris’ Travel Suspended After 2 People Near Her Test Positive For Coronavirus
NPR - October 16, 2020
The Biden campaign on Thursday canceled Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris' travel through Sunday after two people traveling with her tested positive for the coronavirus. The campaign says it learned Wednesday night that Liz Allen — Harris' communications director — and a non-staff flight crew member tested positive for the virus.
Europe, US reel as virus infections surge at record pace
AP - October 16, 2020
Coronavirus cases around the world have climbed to all-time highs of more than 330,000 per day as the scourge comes storming back across Europe and spreads with renewed speed in the U.S., forcing many places to reimpose tough restrictions eased just months ago. Well after Europe seemed to have largely tamed the virus that proved so lethal last spring, newly confirmed infections are reaching unprecedented levels in Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland. Most of the rest of the continent is seeing similar danger signs.
Facing Many Unknowns, States Rush To Plan Distribution Of COVID-19 Vaccines
NPR - October 16, 2020
Public health officers across the country are rushing to finish up the first draft of plans for how to distribute a coronavirus vaccine if and when it is authorized, and they're grappling with a host of unknowns as they try to design a system for getting the vaccine out to everyone who wants it. The CDC gave state immunization managers only 30 days to draft a comprehensive COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan — and Friday is the day those plans are due.
Inside the Fall of the CDC
ProPublica - October 16, 2020
How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.