While commercial labs across the country have pushed hard this year to scale up their coronavirus testing capacity, the number of tests they conduct each week has fallen over the last month. Some of those major labs now report unused capacity, and one of the largest diagnostic companies has recently only been using about half…… MORE
You’ve been chained to your desk working remotely day in and day out. Schedule this mini break in the middle of the day and call it a meeting! You’ve probably heard by now that sitting has been called the new smoking. With negative health effects from long-term sitting such as increased blood pressure, increased risk…… MORE
Even amid a pandemic, life expectancy among White people in the United States far exceeds what Black people have experienced every year, according to new research. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, used national life expectancy data and demographic models to estimate how many White deaths…… MORE
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its Covid-19 testing guidelines. The agency no longer recommends testing for most people without symptoms, even if they’ve been in close contact with someone known to have the virus. Previously, the CDC said viral testing was appropriate for people with recent or suspected exposure, even…… MORE
More than 70,000 new Covid-19 cases in children have been reported across the US since early August, new data shows. Child cases increased by 21% between August 6 and August 20, according to an updated joint report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. More than 440,000 children have been infected…… MORE
In an era of hypervigilance during a pandemic, whether some of our friendships will survive is up in the air. Our brains have established methods for recognizing people as close friends or acquaintances, and “the closest ties are built on a substantial investment of time and trust — both of which may be challenged by…… MORE
One superspreading event may be connected to about 20,000 Covid-19 cases in the Boston area, a researcher said on Tuesday. That event, a biotech conference attended by 200 people in late February, is now well known as a source of Covid-19 spread very early on in the pandemic. “Ultimately, more than 90 cases were diagnosed…… MORE
Polio has been declared eradicated from Africa, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. “Today we come together to rejoice over a historic public health success, the certification of wild poliovirus eradication in the African region,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said during a livestreamed event. “The end of wild polio in…… MORE
It seems that just as states start getting coronavirus cases under control in one geographic area, they start rising in another. Sun Belt states hit hard by the coronavirus in summer — including Florida, Texas, Arizona — have finally started to see their numbers go down, only to have cases insidiously creep up across parts…… MORE
Nima Bhakta was that college friend who everyone knew would be a great mother. We met in 2006, and I could see that she was always at ease when she interacted with children. Kind and confident, she was also the friend who talked about how excited she was to have children of her own. That’s…… MORE
