AP -
February 11, 2021
U.S. government researchers found that two masks are better than one in slowing coronavirus spread, but health officials stopped short of recommending that everyone double up. … [Researchers] found that wearing one mask — surgical or cloth — blocked around 40% of the particles coming toward the head that was breathing in. When a cloth mask was worn on top of a surgical mask, about 80% were blocked. When both the exhaling and inhaling heads were double-masked, more than 95% of the particles were blocked…
CNN -
February 11, 2021
People who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus -- right now that means with two doses of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine -- can skip quarantine if they are exposed to someone infected with the virus, the CDC said Wednesday. That doesn't mean they should stop taking precautions, the CDC noted in updated guidance. It's just not necessary for them to quarantine.
Bloomberg -
February 11, 2021
A covid variant first found in the U.K. is infecting Americans at a pace that far outstrips the original strain, which arrived in the spring. In the 43 days since B.1.1.7 was first found in the U.S., more than 900 cases have been reported. At around the same point, the first strain had infected only 165 people, though testing capacity was significantly weaker. … As of Tuesday, there were 932 reported cases of the U.K. variant among 34 states, according to data from the CDC.
CNN -
February 11, 2021
An administration official told CNN the CDC's five key strategies to reopening schools include hand washing, masking, social distancing, cleaning and ventilation, as well as contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. The guidance will not suggest requiring staffers to be vaccinated, instead describing vaccination as another strategy to "layer," since many schools were able to safely reopen before vaccines were available, the official noted.
Yahoo! Finance -
February 11, 2021
New weekly unemployment claims pulled back slightly but held at elevated levels last week, and the prior week’s new claims were upwardly revised as the coronavirus pandemic exerted more pressure on the labor market.
CBS News -
February 11, 2021
Almost half of full-time workers say they are experiencing mental health issues, including a majority of millennials and Gen Z employees, a recent survey shows. Rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues have climbed since the coronavirus pandemic erupted last March, with 46% of full-time workers reporting such issues compared with 39% before the crisis, according to a poll of more than 1,400 workers surveyed by insurance company The Standard.
AP -
February 11, 2021
Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies. The foreign-made knockoffs are becoming increasingly difficult to spot and could put health care workers at grave risk for the coronavirus.
13-WMAZ -
February 11, 2021
STAT -
February 10, 2021
While the numbers are going in the right direction, they are still at once unimaginably high levels. … Experts fear the decline might just be temporary. A more transmissible — and, as evidence increasingly suggests, a seemingly deadlier — form of the coronavirus called B.1.1.7 is starting to build up in the U.S., even as overall case numbers come down. It’s not clear whether the variant could cause cases — and thus hospitalizations and deaths — to increase once again, but the specter of it is adding pressure to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible and to drive down overall cases as low as possible.
ABC News -
February 10, 2021
Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp., two of the biggest test processing labs in the U.S., say they haven’t reported any changes to the accuracy of their testing data with false negatives from the new U.K. coronavirus variant. Abbott, a U.S. medical device and health care company that produced rapid tests purchased in large numbers by the federal government, said its BinaxNOW tests are still working as promised.
Kaiser Health News -
February 10, 2021
Alcoholism-related liver disease was a growing problem even before the pandemic … But the pandemic has dramatically added to the toll. Although national figures are not available, admissions for alcoholic liver disease at Keck Hospital of the University of Southern California were up 30% in 2020 compared with 2019 … Specialists at hospitals affiliated with the University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Harvard University and Mount Sinai Health System in New York City said rates of admissions for alcoholic liver disease have leapt by up to 50% since March.
AP -
February 10, 2021
The need to give each person two doses a few weeks apart vastly complicates the country’s biggest-ever vaccination campaign. And persistent uncertainty about future vaccine supplies fuels worries that some people will not be able to get their second shots in time.
CBS News -
February 10, 2021
With just days left in their month-long visit to Wuhan, the WHO’s team of COVID-19 experts co-hosted their first press conference on Tuesday to share some key findings from the hunt for the coronavirus' origin. The biggest takeaway from the nearly three-hour event was that the scientists believe it's "extremely unlikely" a lab-related accident was the source of the pandemic, and all current evidence "continues to point to a natural reservoir."
WSB-TV -
February 10, 2021