Susan Bailey, a 57-year-old retired nurse from Florida, has had all her jabs and gets a flu shot every year. She’s a vocal Joe Biden supporter — and one of a growing number of people globally who say they wouldn’t take a coronavirus vaccine even if one becomes available soon. “I’m not anti-vaccine. My kids…
Health News
US considering coronavirus strain for potential human challenge trials — but there’s no intention to use it, Fauci says
The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, confirmed to CNN on Friday that scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are working to have a strain of coronavirus created that could be used in human challenge trials of a Covid-19 vaccine. In challenge trials, researchers give study subjects an experimental…
New CDC guidance says Covid-19 rates in children ‘steadily increasing’
Health experts say children make up more than 7% of all coronavirus cases in the US — while comprising about 22% of the country’s population — and the number and rate of child cases have been “steadily increasing” from March to July. The data was posted alongside updated guidance from the US Centers for Disease…
How to recognize Covid-19 symptoms in children, based on pediatricians’ advice
Are parents really supposed to be reassured by all this talk about “mild” cases of Covid-19 in children? What about the unfortunate “few” youngsters who have died or come down with a strange and severe associated illness? No parent wants to take the odds that their child might be the exception to the rule. “We’ve…
After declining, Covid-19 cases are rising again in US nursing homes
When Suzanne Wright got the phone call on Tuesday that her 84-year-old mother, who lives in a Florida nursing home 1,600 miles away, tested positive for Covid-19, she was a little perplexed. “My first feeling was, how is this possible? I just got a call in the middle of last week that she was negative,”…
Are you immune to Covid-19 for three months after recovering? It’s not clear
It’s the question everyone wants answered: How long are we protected from catching Covid-19 after we’ve recovered from the novel coronavirus — and what does that really mean? Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its quarantine guidelines online to say that people who have recovered from Covid-19 do not need…
1 in 4 young people are reporting suicidal thoughts. Here’s how to help
In the early days of the pandemic, many people came together to help each other, connecting over socially distant dinners and reaching out for video calls with friends they hadn’t talked to in months. But this international crisis continues, and Americans are having trouble adjusting to the strain of our new reality. New psychological data…
With major delays in Covid-19 testing, AMA and other medical groups push for testing priority guidelines
While some Americans wait several days or longer for Covid-19 test results, the American Medical Association and other groups want new federal guidelines to help fast-track those who need testing and results urgently. That would be good news for those suffering symptoms or who were definitely exposed to someone with the coronavirus. But it could…
NCAA head doctor warns of ‘troubled waters’ as leagues weigh whether to play fall sports
As the top college sports conferences in the US weigh whether to play or suspend fall sports, the NCAA’s top doctor issued a warning over the challenges they face in determining the safety of moving ahead. Dr. Brian Hainline, Chief Medical Officer of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), told the Infectious Diseases Society of…
States are calling racism a public health crisis. Here’s what that means
With Covid-19, the US is experiencing its worst public health crisis in a generation. But that same crisis is prompting leaders to take note of another emergency, one that has been ongoing for centuries: Racism. Michigan and Nevada became the latest states to declare racism a public health crisis earlier this month, joining Wisconsin and…
Teachers face Covid-19 fears as school districts decide whether to reopen in person
On Tuesday night, Aaron Fortner, a high school English teacher in Missoula, Montana, sat at his computer for nearly four hours watching a virtual meeting of Missoula County Public Schools’ board of trustees. Leaders listened as citizens weighed in against starting the school year in person. “Out of 50 or 60 public comments, only one…
Shabbat dinners amid the pandemic: An ancient Jewish tradition goes virtual
For decades, Teme Ring was cut off from her Jewish faith. The former lawyer was forced to give up her career in 2000, after an onslaught of autoimmune diseases and dysautonomia, conditions that also made her too weak to step into a synagogue for in-person services. “I’m in my own personal diaspora,” she said. In…
Any attempt to get coronavirus herd immunity would lead to massive death tolls, Fauci warns
If the United States allowed coronavirus infections to run rampant to achieve possible herd immunity, the death toll would be massive, especially among vulnerable people, the nation’s top infectious doctor said. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained the risks during a live Instagram session. “If everyone…
Deaths during the coronavirus surge in New York City recall the peak of the 1918 flu pandemic
A new study finds that deaths in New York City in the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic were comparable to deaths in the city at the peak of what’s considered the deadliest pandemic to date — the flu pandemic of 1918. The relative increase in deaths during the early period of the Covid-19 pandemic…
Health advisers to the government say hospitals are ‘scrambling’ after Trump administration’s ‘abrupt’ change to Covid-19 data reporting requirements
In a letter, public health advisers to the US government said they are “extremely concerned” and “troubled” by the Trump administration’s decision to change how hospitals report Covid-19 data. The letter, dated July 31, described hospitals as “scrambling” to determine how to meet new daily Covid-19 reporting requirements to the US Department of Health and…
Headlines
Kamala Harris’ rise sends message of hope to young girls of color
Cabinet roles, Senate seats: What could be next for the women Biden didn’t choose
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