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Removing SARS-CoV-19 virus from the water cycle

Scientists know that coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV-19 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, can remain infectious for days -- or even longer -- in sewage and drinking water.

5 Apr 2020

COVID-19-related school closures may exacerbate childhood obesity

Public health scientists predict that school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic will exacerbate the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States.

5 Apr 2020

Trump administration uses wartime powers to be first in line on medical supplies

The Trump administration quietly invoked the Defense Production Act to force medical suppliers in Texas and Colorado to sell to it first — ahead of states, hospitals or foreign countries.

3 Apr 2020

Fox News’ Jesse Watters said travel bans ‘more critical in saving lives’ than COVID testing. He’s wrong.

Defending President Donald Trump's coronavirus response, Fox News commentator Jesse Watters highlighted federal efforts to restrict international travelers who may be infected — a ban he claimed mattered more than diagnostic testing.

3 Apr 2020

First genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 viruses in Austria openly available

The first 21 SARS-CoV-2 genomes in Austria have now been completed and published within the scope of the “Mutational Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2” project recently launched by CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in close collaboration with the Medical University of Vienna.

3 Apr 2020

Francis Crick Institute and UCLH play vital role in national COVID-19 testing effort

NHS staff testing for COVID-19 has been boosted by repurposing the Francis Crick Institute’s laboratory facilities as a testing facility, to help combat the spread of infection and allow key workers to perform lifesaving duties and remain safe.

3 Apr 2020

Medicaid nearing ‘eye of the storm’ as newly unemployed look for coverage

As the coronavirus roils the economy and throws millions of Americans out of work, Medicaid is emerging as a default insurance plan for many of the newly unemployed.

3 Apr 2020

As the country disinfects, diabetes patients can’t find rubbing alcohol

While the masses hunt for toilet paper, Caroline Gregory and other people with diabetes are on a different mission: scouring stores for the rubbing alcohol or alcohol swabs needed to manage their disease.

3 Apr 2020

Larger thigh circumference associated with lower heart disease risk in obesity

Larger thigh circumference may be associated with lower blood pressure and reduced heart disease risk in people with obesity.

3 Apr 2020

Robots can play a major role in COVID-19 battle

Robots can significantly help in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that is spreading across the globe. As the number of cases tops one million, and the death toll reaching 53,000, scientists race to develop a drug or vaccine for the infectious disease. Now, robots are playing a major role in this fight, improving the health and safety of individuals and patients.

2 Apr 2020

Loss of smell hints at coronavirus infection

The most common signs and symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) include fever, dry cough, and difficulty of breathing. But patients who were infected recall another bizarre symptom tied to the coronavirus infection – loss of smell.

2 Apr 2020

How to legally and ethically respond to COVID-19 pandemic

Few novel or emerging infectious diseases have posed such vital ethical challenges so quickly and dramatically as the novel coronavirus.

2 Apr 2020

Trump touted Abbott’s quick COVID-19 test. HHS document shows only 5,500 are on way for entire U.S.

A coronavirus test made by Abbott Laboratories and introduced with considerable fanfare by President Donald Trump in a Rose Garden news conference this week is giving state and local health officials very little added capacity to perform speedy tests needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 Apr 2020

A checklist to guide Emergency Department team's COVID-19 surge response

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges to many health care systems across the globe.

2 Apr 2020

Public health interventions will drive economic recovery from COVID-19

A major new study titled “Pandemics Depress the Economy, Public Health Interventions Do Not: Evidence from the 1918 Flu,” by MIT economist Emil Verner and others, and published as a working paper in the Social Science Research Network, puts the role of public health measures and financial welfare during public health crises into perspective.

2 Apr 2020

Mediterranean diet best for lowering LDL cholesterol

A new study published in The BMJ in April 2020 suggests that almost any remedial diet can result in a certain amount of weight loss and a better cardiovascular risk profile over the next six months, compared with the usual diet. However, at the 12-month mark, the dieter has mostly gained back the weight, while most cardiovascular risk factors are back at their original levels.

2 Apr 2020