Cheng et al., “Organ‐protective Effect of Angiotensin‐converting Enzyme 2 and its Effect on the Prognosis of COVID‐19”

Article link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jmv.25785 Published in the Journal of Medical Virology on March 27, 2020, Cheng and colleagues demonstrate that an enzyme found in the lungs, Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), is highly protective against acute lung injury – particularly in the case of COVID-19 patients who are in critical condition. Therefore, the authors believe that the … Read more

Effects of COVID-19 on Individuals with Mental Health Disorders

In an article published in The Lancet by physicians from China, they discuss the challenges and effects in the comorbidity of mental health illnesses along with physical illness, in this case specifically COVID-19. In addition, the piece discusses the social difficulties that are experienced among residents including stigma as well as general inability to access … Read more

Human Rights Watch: A Deadly Lack of Affordable COVID-19 Treatment in the US

The Human Rights Watch, a non-profit organization based in New York, recently published an article entitled “A Deadly Lack of Affordable COVID-19 Treatment in the US” which addresses how costly and inaccessible it is, particularly for low-income people, to receive testing and treatment for COVID-19. One uninsured woman in Boston reported that her COVID-19 testing … Read more

Which States and Cities Have Been Told to Stay Home and How this is Communicated to Residents

This New York Times article presents updated national information about which U.S. states and cities have issued stay-at-home quarantine measures. As of March 30th, 30 states of have been issued to stay at home by their government officials. Link to Article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-stay-at-home-order.html By looking at this guide, we can see when and how each state … Read more

Myers, “China Created a Fail-Safe System to Track Contagions. It Failed.” New York Times, March 29, 2020.

After SARS, China established a system for tracking cases of dangerous infectious diseases as well as outbreaks of new diseases. This story helps explain why that system broke down with covid-19, with local leaders not wanting to displease the central Chinese government.