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Packed bars serve up new rounds of COVID contagion

As states ease their lockdowns, bars are emerging as fertile breeding grounds for the coronavirus. They create a risky cocktail of tight quarters, young adults unbowed by the fear of illness and, in some instances, proprietors who don't enforce crowd limits and social distancing rules.

25 Jun 2020

First clinical trial in South Africa for Covid-19 vaccine begins

The first clinical trial in South Africa and on the continent for a Covid-19 vaccine was announced today, 23 June 2020, at a virtual press conference hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits).

23 Jun 2020

Socio-economic effects of human mobility restrictions under COVID-19

The lockdown measures introduced in Italy to deal with COVID-19 have produced a mobility contraction which is not homogeneously distributed across Italian municipalities and regions. An examination of the steep fall on the Italian mobility network during the pandemic reveals some counterintuitive results, calling for further analysis.

22 Jun 2020

Human trials to commence using SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from cow's blood

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a sense of urgency as it actively spreads across the globe. The number of reported cases has now surpassed 8.46 million people, with a death toll of more than 453,000. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop an effective treatment and vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

19 Jun 2020

COVID-19 could trigger diabetes in healthy people

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) causes severe illness in people with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, hypertension, lung illness, and diabetes. Now, scientists warn that viral infection may trigger the development of diabetes in healthy people.

18 Jun 2020

Danish pipetting robot automates COVID-19 testing processes in hospitals

A Danish pipetting robot is automating Covid testing processes in hospitals around Europe. The robot, called flowbot ONE, significantly reduces the time it takes for laboratories to produce results for patients to tell them whether they are infected with Covid-19.

17 Jun 2020

Norway pulls coronavirus contact tracing App due to privacy concerns

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many countries have launched contact tracing apps to help contain the spread of the virus. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread across most of the world, now infecting more than 8.17 million people; hence, extensive contact tracing is a vital tool to prevent its vast spread.

17 Jun 2020

Researchers show how warmer weather might shape the spread of COVID-19

An international team of researchers led by McMaster University has found that while higher heat and humidity can slow the spread of COVID-19, longer hours of sunlight are associated with a higher incidence of the disease, in a sign that sunny days can tempt more people out even if this means a higher risk of infection.

9 Jun 2020

U.S. COVID-19 patients face long hospital stays and high rates of ICU admission

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the U.S. are enduring longer hospital stays and facing higher rates of intensive care unit admission than patients in China, finds a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Kaiser Permanente.

26 May 2020

New tool could help prevent and reduce the number of coronavirus cases

One of the most effective measures for containing the transmission of a virus is to identify who an infected person has been in contact and/or crossed paths with, mainly during incubation periods.

26 May 2020

Medical rationing could cause unlawful death from COVID-19

While the initial coronavirus peak is starting to pass - in Europe, at least - without the ventilator shortages many feared, the spectre of a second wave or future outbreak means questions of medical rationing still hold sway.

21 May 2020

New insight could help drive cooperative behavior in communities navigating through health crisis

Seeing someone do something good for someone else motivates witnesses to perform their own helpful acts, an insight that could help drive cooperative behavior in communities navigating through the health crisis.

20 May 2020

Evidence shows Obama team left a pandemic ‘game plan’ for Trump administration

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell alleged that the Obama administration did not provide the Trump administration with any information about the threat of a possible pandemic during a May 11 Team Trump Facebook Live discussion with Lara Trump.

15 May 2020

New technology can be used for remote monitoring of individuals with suspected COVID-19

Agência FAPESP – Developed by Biologix, a startup headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, a sleep apnea home diagnostic and monitoring system based on the Internet of Things can be used for the remote monitoring of individuals with suspected COVID-19 or mild symptoms of the disease.

15 May 2020

Under COVID cloud, prisons in rural America threaten to choke rural hospitals

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept into Montana, it spread into the Marias Heritage Center assisted living facility, then flowed into the nearby 21-bed hospital.

14 May 2020

Deciding who can return to work after COVID-19 outbreak recedes

A new paper describes a strategy that could help decide which workers can safely go back to work once a lockdown is easing off. The study, published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020, could help to apply required measures for serological testing and income replacement among affected workers with accuracy and completeness.

12 May 2020

New tool to address potential COVID-19 outbreaks

Researchers from the Alcoy campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) have collaborated to design a prevision and simulation model that makes it possible to improve the flow of patients and assistance quality at the Department of Health of Alcoy (Alicante) and to manage the crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic.

11 May 2020

The effect of weather on COVID-19 infection rate

Viral epidemics are nothing new in human history. Several viruses circulate freely every year among human beings, causing seasonal outbreaks of disease and death, such as the seasonal flu. A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* reports that temperature plays a significant role in the growth of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

6 May 2020

Study proposes novel training technique to reinforce significance of proper PPE use

Despite the use of personal protective equipment, reports show that many health care workers contracted the coronavirus disease, which raises substantial concerns about the effectiveness of the PPE.

6 May 2020

Russian scientists create humanized mice to test drugs and vaccines for COVID-19

Following the recent Coronavirus outbreak, almost three million people have been infected worldwide, whereas the death toll has already passed the 200,000 mark, according to official reports.

5 May 2020