This opinion piece from the New York Times explores the burden that this epidemic places on medical personal treating those infected. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are knowingly putting themselves and their families at risk by trying to heal the critically ill and dying, which understandably has a profound psychological effect on them.
India has imposed a 21 day lockdown in the wake of the virus, a lockdown that was much needed. However, the enforcement of this lockdown has played out quite abominably, calling into question the ethics and basic civil liberties surrounding such brutality. People are being beaten up by the Indian police on the streets- an … Read more
French president Emmanuel Macron announced a country-wide lockdown beginning on Tuesday, March 17. All non-necessary shops, restaurants, schools, etc. had already been closed for a few days. We are only allowed to leave our house for one of seven reasons, and whenever we do so, we need to print and fill out a form explaining … Read more
As COVID-19 spread through the United States different states and different counties enacted social distancing policies at different points in time. NYT used data from cell phones (similar to the Social Distancing Scoreboard posted earlier) to look at the impact of these policies and the amount of movement. This can be used to see the … Read more
“‘When you overwhelm the health system, you also overwhelm the death system,”‘ one funeral director said.” As funeral homes and hospital morgues reached their capacities, the New York City medical examiner’s office purchased 45 mobile morgues to increase their ability to handle approximately 3,500 bodies. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-bodies.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
Today, The Lancet published an article from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center about a new potential vaccine for COVID-19. The vaccine generates a potent, antigen-specific antibody response to the virus. The vaccine has been effective in mouse trials thus far. Further, the researchers were successful in designing an effective method of administration … Read more
An overview of why Amazon and Instacart workers at the Staten Island facility participated in a strike on Monday, March 20. Christian Smalls, the organizer of the strike, claimed that “We’re not asking for much…we’re asking the building to be closed and sanitized, and for us to be paid [during that process]” as a response … Read more
KN95 masks, like the name suggest, is an alternative for N95 masks. While the CDC certified the effectiveness of KN95, KN95 has a slight difference with N95 masks, mainly that KN95’s factories are often not certified by the US government. According to Buzzfeed, the FDA is not giving approval to KN95 Masks. Buzzfeed points out … Read more
The Wall Street Journal news article titled “Questions About Accuracy of Coronavirus Tests Sow Worry” discusses how the failure of Coronavirus testing kits has facilitated the virus’ spread. Specifically, Dr. Smalley, a primary-care doctor who has been treating Coronavirus patients, estimates from his experience that the current Coronavirus test kits have a seventy percent accuracy … Read more
