Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Public willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine around the globe: Study

The worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented effort to develop vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on a timescale that has never been imagined before. Even as some vaccines have begun to be administered on a large scale, scientists and governments are coming up against a difficult obstacle.

3 Dec 2020

Working from home has negatively impacted physical health and mental health, study finds

What impact has working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic had on our health? In a new study, researchers from USC have found that working from home has negatively impacted our physical health and mental health, increased work expectations and distractions, reduced our communications with co-workers and ultimately lessened our productivity.

3 Dec 2020

What are the most effective COVID policies?

A new study on the effectiveness of COVID-19 containment strategies shows that `additional measures are needed to stop the pandemic's spread. These additional steps include stay at home orders, workplace closures for all except essential workers, and targeted school closures, which are likely to have a large effect on social and economic well-being.

3 Dec 2020

Study finds no job displacement effects of hiring in foreign-educated nurses

An aging U.S. population is rapidly increasing the demand for nursing care. The number of U.S. citizens aged 65 and over is expected to almost double from 43.1 million in 2012 to 87.5 million by 2050, while the workforce is shrinking.

3 Dec 2020

New antiviral drug completely suppresses SARS-CoV-2 transmission within 24 hours

Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection with a new antiviral drug, MK-4482/EIDD-2801 or Molnupiravir, completely suppresses virus transmission within 24 hours, researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University have discovered.

3 Dec 2020

Novel surveillance system can dynamically track direction, speed and acceleration of COVID-19 virus

A new COVID-19 global surveillance system has been developed which can dynamically track not just where the virus is now, but where it is going, how fast it will arrive and whether that speed is accelerating.

3 Dec 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Who will run the Biden health effort?

The quadrennial guessing game about who will get what health job in a new presidential administration has taken on a new urgency in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage.

3 Dec 2020

Women with COVID-19 more likely to suffer acute stress during childbirth

Researchers in the United States and Israel have conducted a study showing that women who have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are twice as likely to experience acute clinical stress while giving birth, compared with women giving birth who do not have the illness.

3 Dec 2020

Lessons from Italian neurosurgeons who fought on the frontline of COVID-19 pandemic's first wave

A report by neurosurgeons at the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, Italy, highlights the strategies their unit had to take to help combat the viral illness, which has claimed the lives of more than 1.49 million people worldwide. The study was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery in December 2020.

3 Dec 2020

Can melatonin help prevent severe COVID-19?

A team of researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada has found that melatonin can be an adjuvant to augment the efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. They believe that the drug is a potential “silver bullet” to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

3 Dec 2020

Household composition and ethnicity may contribute to higher COVID-19 mortality: a UK case study

A new study by researchers in the UK found that older people living with relatives are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 and death. They also revealed that living in a multi-generational household, where extended family members live, was tied to increased COVID-19 mortality.

3 Dec 2020

Come for your eye exam, leave with a band-aid on your arm

With multiple COVID-19 vaccines rapidly heading toward approval, optometrists and dentists are pushing for the authority to immunize patients during routine eye exams and dental cleanings.

3 Dec 2020

As LA County sets new infection record, state leaders’ behavior sends mixed messages

California, like the rest of the nation, is seeing a dramatic rise in COVID infections and deaths — and Los Angeles County has some of the most dire statistics.

3 Dec 2020

High seroprevalence of short-lived anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Paris

A recent study indicates a high seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among individuals working in a Paris-based institute.

3 Dec 2020

NYC hospital workers, knowing how bad it can get, brace for COVID 2nd wave

No single municipality in the country suffered more in the first wave of the pandemic than New York City, which saw more than 24,000 deaths, mainly in the spring. Medical staff in New York know precisely how difficult and dangerous overwhelmed hospitals can be and are braced warily as infections begin to rise again.

3 Dec 2020