Many schools across the US gambled on offering in-person classes in early August, even as their states were still battling uncontrolled spread of Covid-19. In some of those schools, it hasn’t gone well. In Georgia’s Cherokee County School District, for example, there have been at least 80 positive cases since August 3, and more than…
Read more“Totally predictable”: State reopenings have backfired
One month ago, I asked epidemiologist Tara Smith if she was worried about states loosening their stay-at-home orders, despite most not meeting the government’s criteria for doing so. “I am really fearful that by June 1 or June 15, after we’ve seen a couple weeks to a month of [state reopenings], that our cases are…
Read moreThe case for funding psychedelics to treat mental health
Around the world, people’s mental health is in trouble. Even before the pandemic hit, rates of depression and anxiety were rising globally. Now that we also have Covid-19 to contend with, the problem is even more glaring. Studies show that all the virus-induced losses — of life, of jobs, of social connection — have come…
Read moreScientists haven’t figured out long Covid. Here are 5 of their best hypotheses.
Most people who get the coronavirus will fully recover and go right back to their lives. But the latest research suggests that at least 10 percent have long-term symptoms, even after their body has apparently cleared the virus. The condition, known as “long Covid,” has emerged as a scary feature of the pandemic — a…
Read moreWhy Johnson & Johnson shots were paused — and why that’s so confusing
The US rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was halted Tuesday as regulators race to investigate rare blood-clotting complications linked to the shot. The move may force thousands of people scheduled to receive the shot this week to scramble for an alternative. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease…
Read moreA key FDA vaccine committee declined to vote on a Covid-19 vaccine
Food and Drug Administration officials on a key committee said Thursday they were not planning to make a decision about granting emergency approval for a Covid-19 vaccine just yet. This all but ends the chances of a vaccine getting the green light in the US before the November 3 presidential election, and likely over the…
Read moreTrump failed on the opioid crisis — and Democrats are letting him get away with it
The Republican National Convention on Tuesday spent more time on the opioid epidemic than the entirety of the Democratic National Convention. In a touching speech, Ryan Holets, a police officer in New Mexico, told a story about how he adopted a child from a person struggling with homelessness and drug addiction. “Today, our beautiful daughter,…
Read moreHurricane Laura hits Gulf Coast as an “extremely dangerous” storm
The National Hurricane Center warned that Hurricane Laura will cause “life-threatening storm surge” reaching up to 40 miles inland and rising up to 20 feet as the storm made landfall in Texas and Louisiana. Laura reached the Gulf Coast after midnight on Thursday morning at an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 strength, with winds reaching 140…
Read moreWhat makes California’s current major wildfires so unusual
Wildfires continue burning in California, with unhealthy air from smoke still cloaking some parts of the state. Combined with the Covid-19 pandemic, the fires are compounding risks that have been brewing for years. Click Here: Fire officials have grouped some of the smaller fires in an area into complexes to coordinate their response. The largest…
Read moreHurricane Laura: The danger of storm surge, explained
Hurricane Laura made landfall at 1 am ET Thursday in Cameron, Louisiana, as a fierce Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds. It has since downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, with wind speeds of 75 mph, and is moving north. But perhaps the most dangerous part of the storm may be the storm surge…
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